NHS to be ‘digital by default’

The government has published its long-awaited 10-year plan for the NHS, which includes developing a Single Patient Record (SPR) that will incorporate medical records and a personal health risk account.

The record will work as an NHS patient passport, ensuring information across services is available in one place. The government plans to introduce new legislation, placing a duty on healthcare providers to make information held about a patient available to the patient.

By 2028, patients will be able to view their record on the NHS App, including a personalised account on their health risk, using data from lifestyle, genomic and geographic data.

The plan also includes a digitally enabled Neighbourhood Health Service, which will allow people to use the NHS App to communicate with healthcare professionals, share data, receive advice and self-refer.

“For those who need them, neighbourhood teams – organised around people with similar needs, rather than into NHS institutional siloes – will deliver truly seamless care in the community. For the first time in the NHS’s history, personalisation and convenience will become the default,” the plan said.

“By 2035, the Neighbourhood Health Service will have further evolved to fully incorporate genomic data, digital tools and technology.”

The government will replace two-thirds of outpatient appointments with automated information and digital artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled advice, aiming to save the £14bn a year currently spent on outpatient appointments.

The NHS App will also include data from wearable devices, such as glucose levels, blood pressure and heart rates.

Commenting on the launch, prime minister Keir Starmer said: “The NHS should be there for everyone, whenever they need it. But we inherited a health system in crisis, addicted to a sticking plaster approach, and unable to face up to the challenges we face now, let alone in the future.

“That ends now. Because it’s reform or die. Our 10 Year Health Plan will fundamentally rewire and future-proof our NHS so that it puts care on people’s doorsteps, harnesses game-changing tech and prevents illness in the first place.

“That means giving everyone access to GPs, nurses and wider support all under one roof in their neighbourhood – rebalancing our health system so that it fits around patients’ lives, not the other way round.”

The government will also build a HealthStore, which will allow patients to find approved health apps to manage or treat their condition. The NHS will procure digital tools once, securing a good price, and will regularly update the store with new apps, according to the plan.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) will have its remit expanded so its technology appraisal process covers devices, diagnostics and digital products.

NICE will also identify technologies and therapies that are outdated and remove them from the NHS.

Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting said the plan will “turn the NHS on its head” and deliver “one of the most fundamental changes to the way we receive our healthcare in history”.

“By shifting from hospital to community, we will finally bring down devastating hospital waiting lists and stop patients going from pillar to post to get treated,” he said.

“This government’s Plan for Change is creating an NHS truly fit for the future, keeping patients healthy and out of hospital, with care closer to home and in the home.

“The status quo of ‘hospital by default’ will end, with a new preventative principle that care should happen as locally as it can: digital by default, in a patient’s home where possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, in a hospital if necessary. This approach will make access to healthcare more convenient for patients and easier to fit around their day-to-day lives, rather than disrupting people’s work and personal lives,” he said.