As part of its 10-Year Health Plan, the government has unveiled what it calls ambitious plans to shift the NHS from analogue to digital.
It plans to create a more modern NHS by bringing together a single patient record, summarising patient health information, test results and letters in one place, through the NHS App. The government said the app will put patients in control of their own medical history, and NHS staff will have the full picture of patients’ health.
To facilitate this, the government said it will be introducing laws to make NHS patient health records available across all NHS trusts, GP surgeries and ambulance services in England, in a move it claims will speed up patient care, reduce repeat medical tests, and minimise medication errors.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “To save the things we love about the NHS, we need to change it. Our 10-Year Health Plan will transform the NHS to make it fit for the future, and it will have patients’ and staff’s fingerprints all over it.
By enabling IT systems to share data more easily, NHS staff could save an estimated 140,000 hours of time every year.
NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard said: “It is vital the health service innovates and adapts – as it has always done throughout its 76-year history – to design and deliver an NHS fit for the future.”
As part of the plan, the government also wants to explore the opportunities smartwatches and other wearable tech may offer patients with diabetes or high blood pressure, which enable patients to monitor their own health from the comfort of their own home.
Discussing the plans for the NHS, prime minister Keir Starmer said: “We have a clear plan to fix the health service, but it’s only right that we hear from the people who rely on the NHS every day to have their say and shape our plan as we deliver it. Together, we can build a healthcare system that puts patients first and delivers the care that everyone deserves.
“Our reforms will also shift the NHS away from late diagnosis and treatment to a model where more services are delivered in local communities and illnesses are prevented in the first place.”
Starmer urged patients and NHS staff to get involved in the public debate about the future of the health service: “It is vital the government hears from patients, experts and the NHS workforce to make sure we get this right and preserve the things people value about the health service.”
Streeting said: “Whether you use the NHS or work in it, you see first-hand what’s great, but also what isn’t working. We need your ideas to help turn the NHS around. I urge everyone to go to Change.NHS.uk today and help us to build a health service fit for the future.”