The 10-Year Health Plan has dropped (albeit without the delivery plan…) with “Science and technology being key to the NHS’ reinvention” as it shifts to a “Neighbourhood Health Service”.
Tech is writ large, from the Federated Data Platform and Single Patient Record to Ambient Voice Technology, genomics, and big ambitions for the NHS App and digital tools for patients, plus continued investment in EPRs. The direction? Promising. But, as they have recognised, money alone won’t make it work.
The Plan promises to make AI every nurse’s and doctor’s trusted assistant, saving them time and supporting them in decision making. If we can make sure that AI and other tech work for both patients and staff, that they have the appropriate training and they are able to drive the changes, then this could be brilliant. Care can be more flexible, exploiting digital capabilities to make care available when and how it works for people (including when that care is not delivered digitally).
Tech that creates flexibility for staff is welcome too. With burnout and retention major issues for the NHS, using tech to reduce the burden from tasks such as documentation, information retrieval, task delegation, and pathway management from busy frontline staff is always welcome. Ambient Voice Technology could be part of the answer here – but only if it’s done well, with staff, not to them.
The real engine of change
John Kotter, a leading managing change thinker, issues a stark warning: 70% of change programs fail because they overlook the real engine of change – people. Too many leaders focus on plans, processes, and timelines, forgetting the softer factors that will make a change sink or swim: mindset, fear, behaviour, culture. In short, how do you make people part of the change and take their hearts and minds with you?
If you sign up for a marathon, you can map out a training plan and buy some fancy trainers, but success won’t come from that alone. It’s the behavioural and mindset shift that will get you round the course on the day. All those 5am training runs, new eating habits, maybe drinking less alcohol and finding people that can help you or at least cheer you on.
Leading a tech transformation is similar. You can have the perfect the plan – but you need to change what you do, find the people that can help you (experts, critical friends and cheerleaders alike) and work out what motivates people, what their fears are, and how to get the best out of you and them. Real change needs empathy, insight, and a deep understanding of the people who will make it happen.
What happens if it we get it wrong?
We have been around this loop before. If we buy kit without investing in the human side of change then we risk making existing processes more expensive and more frustrating, contributing to burnt out staff and disappointed patients. It is hard to see how we can deliver neighbourhood health in that context.
Neighbourhood health centres and multidisciplinary teams will rely on high quality information from multiple services being available in aggregate, otherwise you have teams consumed with looking at system after system. The Single Patient Record may resolve this in the longer term, but if we want to move fast, we need high quality information capture in every setting of care now, and for that information to be interoperable and accessible to those delivering care. And that relies on people to enter the data and people to look at and use the data.
Whether it’s ambient voice tech, EPRs or SPRs – without co-production, organisational readiness, support for people, and ongoing optimisation – they won’t land.
NHS clinicians are three times more likely to be burnt out by their EPR than peers globally. A growing number plan to leave their profession. That’s not just a workforce issue. It’s a patient safety crisis in slow motion. We can’t build a digital-first NHS on top of exhausted people.
And what does good look like for healthtech?
Well, it probably includes the following…
🔵 Organisational readiness – People, processes, infrastructure, and governance must be aligned and ready to make and sustain the transformation. Working with staff and patients to build understanding, and to change pathways and processes to maximise the positive impact and minimise friction and risk. Taking time to understand the current and future tech state and ensuring IG and clinical safety compliance are in good shape.
🔵 Support for people – Staff engagement and training to influence and support change is essential. In the EPR Usability Survey 2024, 60% of physicians and 70% of nurses said they wanted more EPR education and 44% of clinicians reported receiving no ongoing EPR education. Staff, patients and the public must be given the opportunity help shape the services we provide, the tech we ask them to use and how their data is used.
🔵 Ongoing optimisation – Optimising tech and using insights from the data it holds to continually improve care. Good tech, implemented well, will become a core part of delivering services. Poor usability undermines NHS productivity and outcomes (e.g. only 34% of respondents to the EPR survey said their EPR made them more efficient). Go-live isn’t a one and done, it is just the start of the hard graft. Ongoing user engagement and feedback loops, training and upskilling, clinical decision support enhancements, actionable insights from data and workflow refinement will all take good tech to great tech.
This 10-Year Plan won’t be judged by what’s in it. It’ll be judged by what it makes possible – and who’s still standing to deliver it. So, let’s invest not just in platforms and code – but in capability, care models, and people.
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About the author
Emma Doyle has 20 years’ tech and data experience in health, working with Government and NHS leaders. Formerly Head of Strategy at NHS England, Emma now advises both public and private sector clients on digital transformation through Ethical Healthcare Consulting.