Skills for Health announces Our Health Heroes finalists

By Integrated Care Journal

The finalists for the 2025 Our Health Heroes Awards have been shortlisted.

Our Health Heroes champions the incredible people at the heart of our NHS and is delivered by Skills for Health in partnership with NHS Employers, NHS Shared Business Services, SFJ Awards, NHS Race and Health Observatory and Integrated Care Journal.

After an extensive selection process, 23 finalists have been chosen across nine categories, each recognising the outstanding health heroes of the UK.

The selected finalists will be invited to attend the ceremony held in Central London on 22 May where the gold, silver and bronze award winners will be announced.

The finalists are as follows:

Individual categories

Apprentice of the Year, sponsored by SFJ Awards:

Nasser Mohammed, Service Desk Supervisor/Developer, Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Tim Muttock, Business Administration Apprentice, Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Olivia Parsons, Clinic Manager, Beacon House

Healthcare Volunteer of the Year:

Andy Emery, Transport Volunteer, Royal Voluntary Service
David White, Patient Befriender Volunteer, Cardiff and Vale Health Board
Chris Wilson, Volunteer Community First Responder, Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Outstanding Life Contribution, sponsored by NHS Employers:

Caroline Dowsett, Clinical Nurse Specialist, East London Foundation Trust
Vedantee Shiebert, CAMHS Lead Nurse, Central and North West NHS Foundation Trust
Pauline Taylor, Children’s Complex Care Quality Assurance Nurse, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Operational Support worker of the Year:

Hayley Pedwell, Information Assistant, Macmillan Cancer Care
Brian Taylor, Ambulance Welfare Officer, North East Ambulance Service Unified Solutions
Lois Ward, Communications and Engagement Officer, Chesterfield Royal Hospital

Clinical Support Worker of the Year:

Lynette Cook, Ward Coordinator, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust
Sam Desborough, Assistant Practitioner Occupational Therapist, Southwark Council
Sarah Haynes, Healthcare Assistant, Modality Partnership

Team categories

Best Healthcare Workforce Collaboration:

Personalised Independence Programme, Age UK HBW
The What Matters Team, Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust

Dedication to Lifelong Learnt Culture:

Coventry and Warwickshire Training Hub
Patford House Partnership

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Champion, sponsored by NHS Race and Health Observatory:

Wakefield Hospice
West Midlands Ambulance Service

Digital Innovation, sponsored by NHS Shared Business Services:

Paediatric Virtual Ward Team, Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Recruitment RPA Project Team, Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust

Follow #OurHealthHeroes on X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn for all the latest updates. To find out more visit: www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/awards

Data solutions to solve the South West’s patient discharge crisis

By Professor Christos Vasilakis and Dr Zehra Onen Dumlu

Professor Christos Vasilakis, Founding Director of the Centre for Healthcare Innovation and Improvement – CHI²) and Dr. Zehra Onen Dumlu from the University of Bath discuss the IPACS project – a collaborative, data-driven approach to improving patient flow.

Delayed discharges, often known as ‘bed blocking’, is a serious operational challenge for NHS managers across the country. According to NHS England data, in February 2024 there were between 13,200 and 14,200 patients remaining in hospital each day who did not meet the criteria to stay. This accounts for more than one in eight general and acute beds in England.

While patients are deemed medically fit for discharge, they remain in hospital due to complexities in arranging necessary social care or community nursing support for a safe transition. The knock-on effects are significant, placing immense strain on acute bed capacity and negatively impacting patient flow and their experience.

The IPACS project: A collaborative, data-driven approach

To address the issue, the Improving Patient Flow between Acute, Community, and Social Care (IPACS) project was launched in 2020. This significant three-year initiative received funding from Health Data Research UK (HDRUK), an independent charity focused on using health data research to address major healthcare challenges.

IPACS brought together a diverse team, combining academic expertise with frontline NHS operational knowledge. Collaborators included the University of Bath, the University of Exeter Medical School, and significantly, the Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) Integrated Care Board (ICB).

The goal of the project was to develop an open-source computer simulation model capable of analysing the complex dynamics of patient flow. This tool would offer a potential blueprint for healthcare organisations nationwide grappling with delayed discharge pressures.

Central to the project was the application of Operational Research (OR) techniques – using advanced analytical models to dissect and solve complex systemic problems. Several team members brought extensive OR experience, with affiliations to The Operational Research Society, demonstrating the project’s robust methodological foundation aimed at enhancing healthcare efficiency.

A multidisciplinary, team-driving innovation

The success of IPACS hinged on its multidisciplinary collaboration. BNSSG ICB’s Head of Modelling and Analytics, Dr Richard Wood, and University of Bath Research Fellow Dr Paul Forte provided essential insights into real-world healthcare operations and ensured the project outputs were relevant and accessible to NHS decision-makers.

Academic leadership came from Professor Christos Vasilakis (founding director of the Centre for Healthcare Innovation and Improvement – CHI²) and Dr Zehra Onen Dumlu at the University of Bath, working alongside Professor Martin Pitt and Dr Alison Harper from the University of Exeter Medical School. This combined team undertook the intricate task of designing, developing, and validating the simulation framework.

Focusing on the critical ‘Discharge to Assess’ service

A key focus for the IPACS project was the transition of patients from acute settings into community care, specifically via the ‘Discharge to Assess’ (D2A) service. Optimising this service is key to improving hospital throughput. The project modelled the three core D2A pathways:

Pathway 1 (P1): Enabling patients to return home with domiciliary support.
Pathway 2 (P2): Providing bed-based rehabilitation for those needing more intensive recovery support post-discharge.
Pathway 3 (P3): Catering for complex care assessments, frequently leading to long-term care placements.

The IPACS model aimed to help optimise capacity planning and resource allocation across these vital pathways.

The BNSSG region: A relevant testing ground

The Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) region, serving approximately one million people, served as a practical case study. Its demographic mix and blend of urban and rural environments reflect challenges common across the NHS. The region’s D2A pathways were experiencing significant pressure, with high occupancy and discharge delays, providing a rich, real-world dataset and demonstrating the urgent need for the solutions IPACS explored.

Operational Research and simulation modelling in practice

Professor Vasilakis and Dr Wood pinpointed the core management challenge: the complex interdependencies between acute, community, and social care services. Bottlenecks in community and social care inevitably impact upstream services, contributing to emergency department pressures and ambulance handover delays.

The IPACS team used real-time data on patient occupancy and discharge delays to build their model. This allowed them to establish baseline performance and, critically, to run “what if” scenarios, varying parameters like length of stay and arrival rates to understand potential impacts of service changes.

Computer simulation modelling, a cornerstone of OR, was central to this. The model allowed the team to:

Simulate patient journeys through the D2A pathways in detail.
Test potential interventions virtually to assess their likely impact on flow and delays.
Analyse how best to allocate resources to mitigate discharge delays.
Account for time-varying demand patterns.

Built using the open-source ‘R’ programming language, the model prioritised accessibility and transparency.

Demonstrating real-world impact and future potential

The IPACS model provided valuable quantitative insights. Outputs clearly demonstrated the potential benefits of achieving target pathway splits and reducing lengths of stay within the D2A service. Significantly, estimates generated by the model were used to support a £13 million business case for enhancing the local D2A system – highlighting the project’s tangible value in informing strategic investment decisions.

The team acknowledged the model does have some limitations. It doesn’t yet capture every element of discharge, such as specific social care inputs, palliative care routes, or detailed post-D2A placement dynamics. Data completeness also needs some ongoing attention. Future work could involve expanding the model’s scope to incorporate social care elements more deeply, analyse the impact of acute capacity constraints, optimise home-based care models, and potentially develop faster analytical tools.

The ongoing challenge and strategic steps forward

Tackling delayed discharge requires effective strategies, and the IPACS project highlights the value of OR. Using OR methods such as simulation modelling allows NHS managers to better understand complex discharge pathways, evaluate potential solutions before implementation, and make more informed, evidence-based decisions about resource allocation to improve patient flow and reduce delays.

*Dr Zehra Onen Dumlu, Assistant Professor, University of Bath*

*Professor Christos Vasilakis, Founding Director, Centre for Healthcare Innovation and Improvement – CHI²*

Acute Care, Community Care, News, Secondary Care, Systems April 10, 2025

Embedding social prescribing in secondary care: A toolkit from Barts Health

By Gabriel Blaazer

Barts Health NHS Trust and its partner organisation, Transformation Partners in Health and Care, have released a toolkit detailing their pioneering work embedding social prescribing in secondary care and specialist acute pathways. The toolkit aims to help providers address unmet social needs, improve patient outcomes and reduce demand on acute services, shaping a holistic, prevention-focused model for the future NHS.

Social prescribing attempts to address the social determinants of health. These are the non-medical factors influencing 84 per cent of a person’s total health, with clinical care impacting the remainder. Social determinants of heath include income security and employment, education, housing and food insecurity, or social isolation.

Introduced in England in 2018, it typically involves signposting or referrals to appropriate services, but can also include emotional and mental health support for people experiencing social isolation or low-level mental health issues. Social prescribing is a holistic, person-centred and preventative approach and as such, is a key enabler of the government’s efforts to shift more care into the community and bolster prevention initiatives.

Emerging evidence suggests that social prescribing is an effective, yet low-cost, preventative intervention. However, its implementation has been more frequent in primary and community care, compared to secondary care. In 2023, Barts Health NHS Trust (Barts Health), one of Europe’s largest acute healthcare providers, started implementing social prescribing across multiple pathways, using different integration models to support a whole system approach to prevention and personalised care.

These services, delivered by social prescribers in collaboration with clinical and wider multi-disciplinary teams, support residents with their social needs while aiming to reduce demand on high-pressure services, including cardiovascular (CVD), renal, emergency care, and children and young people’s (CYP) services.

Encouraged by positive outcome data, the Trust and its partner organisation, Transformation Partners in Health and Care (TPHC), have developed a toolkit to help secondary care services embed social prescribing, public health and other community-led prevention initiatives within their specialties and pathways. The toolkit serves as a practical guide and checklist for secondary care providers looking to implement social prescribing and explore integrated, whole-system approaches to prevention.

Addressing unmet needs

While NHS England has established a standard model for embedding social prescribing, this has primarily focused on integration within primary care. In 2023, Barts Hospital’s Endovascular Team, led by Vascular Surgeon Dr Tara Mastracci, identified a high prevalence of unmet social need among patients in the hospital’s cardiovascular pathway – a well-evidenced correlation. Given that CVD disproportionately affects socially deprived populations, Dr Mastracci theorised that integrating social prescribing could benefit those at highest risk, simultaneously alleviating pressure on the pathway and improving patient outcomes.

A key data point supporting the use of social prescribing in secondary care was the gender split between typical users of social prescribing services and those presenting with acute cardiovascular issues. While 84 per cent of patients within cardiovascular pathways were men, 60 per cent of social prescribing users were women. Research has shown that women consult primary care services 32 per cent more frequently than men, suggesting that secondary care could play a central role in engaging men, who might otherwise remain underserved by traditional social prescribing models.

“Overall, we have found that we encounter a different group of patients compared with those who access social prescribing in primary care.”

Dr Tara Mastracci, Endovascular Lead for Complex Aortic Surgery, Barts Health

This reinforced Dr Mastracci’s belief in the merit of social prescribing within secondary care – clearly, more effort was needed to engage men, particularly for CVD patients who could benefit from greater social support.

Building a collaborative approach

Several specialties within the Trust had also identified unmet social needs as a key driver of service demand, and had begun implementing social prescribing programmes within their pathways. However, these initiatives were siloed, staff-led and reliant on temporary funding or fixed grants. To enhance collaboration and sustainability, Dr Mastracci established a multidisciplinary network of staff across primary and secondary care to drive a more integrated and formalised approach.

Finding limited guidance on implementing social prescribing within secondary care, Dr Mastracci’s CVD team set out to develop a replicable model for implementing it as part of secondary care pathways. Keen to apply the same rigorous standards as with a medical intervention, the team partnered with health economists at the University of East London. They incorporated EQ-5D instruments and QALY (quality-adjusted life years) metrics to evaluate the potential impact of social prescribing on both patients and the wider health and care system.

Recognising the need for greater institutional knowledge and community expertise, the team also partnered with the Bromley by Bow Centre (now Bromley by Bow Health), a leading VCSFE (Voluntary, Community, Social, and Faith Enterprise) community health organisation. This collaboration led to the embedding of a social prescriber within the hospital’s heart attack pathway, screening patients entering the pathway for financial or other social needs.

Implementation and outcomes

Once identified, social prescribers provided patients with six to eight support sessions, connecting them to local services and community groups tailored to their specific social needs. Beyond financial deprivation, patients received support for needs including housing, talking therapies, and healthy lifestyle support such as smoking and alcohol cessation, or physical activity and weight management – all of which play key roles in determining a person’s risk of developing CVD-related conditions.

The social prescribers were drawn from diverse backgrounds and communities, to work in collaboration with clinicians and consultants from secondary care, patient advocate groups, VSCFE organisations and others. This multidisciplinary approach facilitated a holistic and patient-centred approach. The experiences and lessons from creating the CVD social prescribing pathway were later used to inform other specialties as they implemented similar services within their pathways.

“We believe strongly in the importance of ‘place’ and thus many of our social prescribers meet patients in the community where they live to engage and provide support.”

Dr Tara Mastracci, Endovascular Lead for Complex Aortic Surgery, Barts Health

Dr Mastracci acknowledges that it will take years to fully assess the impact of Barts Health’s social prescribing programmes. “We know these target groups are admitted at higher rates than their peers,” Dr Mastracci told ICJ, “but it will take years to evaluate the long-term effects.”

Despite this, early results have been promising, notably within children and young people’s (CYP) diabetes services. Led by Dr Myuri Moorthy, Diabetes Consultant and Clinical Lead for Young Adult Diabetes (YAD) at Barts Health, clinicians in the pathway had noticed a concerning increase in non-adherence to self-management protocols, often linked to concurrent financial and psychosocial issues. The service also saw high numbers of patients not attending appointments (DNAs), largely due to distress, burnout, and the intense mental health toll associated with diabetes.

Poor diabetes self-management is well known to increase the likelihood of complications. This prompted the diabetes team to adopt a co-designed and personalised model, including a multi-disciplinary team of social prescribers, youth workers and a psychologist. The aim of the YAD Social Prescribing Service was to improve patient engagement, reduce DNAs and maximise the impact of each clinical appointment.

Together with service users, the team co-developed a series of interventions, including monthly peer support meetings, a WhatsApp group and a ‘walk and talk’ group, securing funding from NHSE for two and a half years. During this time, the team successfully:

Reduced the DNA rate across the Trust from 39 per cent to 12.5 per cent
Cut diabetes-related hospital admissions of CYP by 36 per cent across all Barts sites
Generated financial savings of an estimated £62,500 per year across the Trust

More outcomes from the prevention initiatives across Barts Health, including economic and demand savings, stronger integrated community networks and improved outcomes and patient experience, can be found on pages 26-30 of the toolkit.

Gaining leadership buy-in

As with many prevention-based interventions, the impact of social prescribing on health and care systems can take years to fully assess. In its paper on integrated neighbourhood teams (within which social prescribers typically sit), The National Association of Primary Care suggests that “savings will be non-cash releasing, but this is not as issue as what is required is capacity and health improvement.” However, this long-term approach does not easily align with NHS funding cycles, which typically require demonstrable return on investment within 12 months.

Currently, all of Barts Health’s social prescribing pathways are funded individually, on an ad hoc basis. The CVD project, for example, was initially funded by NHSE, but is now supported by Barts Charity. To move towards trust-wide funding, TPHC’s Secondary Care Project Manager, Mollie McCormick, emphasises the need to develop:

Robust databases and coding frameworks to accurately track interventions and outcomes over time
Qualitative data collection from patients benefiting from social prescribing, with an emphasis on reduced need for healthcare services and thus cost savings

Bridging the gap between identifying social needs that drive demand and demonstrating short-term cost savings remains a challenge. However, securing the backing and support of senior clinical leadership is critical in building the case for long-term investment.

For social prescribing initiatives to gain trust-wide funding in future, structural changes are needed to prioritise long-term prevention and strengthen outcomes-based commissioning. Different approaches could involve integrated care systems incentivising prevention by:

Setting realistic and appropriate prevention targets for NHS trusts to influence commissioning decisions towards the implementation of personalised care and prevention initiatives
Introducing penalties for avoidable readmissions

These targets could be assessed by monitoring readmission rates for specific condition cohorts or high-demand service areas, ensuring a measurable focus on prevention.

The toolkit: Embedding and Connecting Prevention in Specialist Pathways

Barts Health and TPHC have now published their toolkit, Embedding and Connecting Prevention in Specialist Pathways. Along with background information on the benefits of social prescribing and community-led prevention, the toolkit addresses some of the key systemic barriers that Barts Health encountered while implementing initiatives across various pathways and specialties.

Using case studies and the first-hand insights from patients, social prescribers and clinicians, the toolkit offers practical guidance for those looking to implement community-led prevention approaches, such as social prescribing, in secondary care. It also provides an overview of key Barts Health prevention networks and identifies the leaders driving this work across the Trust. The toolkit offers a valuable resource for anyone working in an acute setting wanting to embed social prescribing into their services or to prioritise the prevention of ill health in NHS Trusts across London and nationally.

Social prescribing: A key enabler of NHS prevention goals

Emerging evidence strongly supports social prescribing as a cost-effective intervention for tackling the wider determinants of health and addressing the often-overlapping health inequalities that contribute to high demand for NHS services.

Further, as the government seeks to move more care from hospitals to communities as part of its ‘three shifts’, initiatives like social prescribing will be increasingly vital. By reducing pressure on secondary care services and helping local systems meet their financial and operational goals, social prescribing plays a crucial role in shaping the future of preventative, person-centred and sustainable healthcare.

Special thanks to Dr Tara Mastracci, Endovascular Lead for Complex Aortic Surgery at Barts Health, and Mollie McCormick, Secondary Care Project Manager at Transformation Partners in Health and Care, for their time and input in developing this article.

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UK digital health company launches Prevention Innovation Fund to support ICSs

By Integrated Care Journal

Holly Health has announced a £320,000 fund, offering systems access to psychology-based digital health services, enabling system leaders to move forward with prevention initiatives.

Long-term conditions (LTCs), mental health challenges, and multimorbidity rates are rising, with lifestyle risk factors the biggest cause. This is impacting system costs (£18.4 billion, or over three quarters of NHS expenditure, is spent on long-term care per year) and workplace sickness (38 per cent of people of working age on long-term sickness, report having 5 or more LTCs). The vast majority of people living with these challenges currently get no tailored support for lifestyle health improvement.

Holly Health has today announced a £320,000 Prevention Innovation Fund, offering up to four integrated care systems (ICSs) (or equivalents in Scotland and Wales) up to £80,000 credit each towards deploying a proven, psychology-based digital health coaching service, to increase self-management support across their region.

The goal of the fund is to help NHS system leaders to move forward with large scale prevention initiatives efficiently, supporting progress towards the three new UK healthcare strategy ‘shifts’, from treatment to prevention, hospital to community and analogue to digital.

Holly Health is a fully digital, yet personalised, health coaching service which supports patients to develop sustainable health habits across mental and physical health and most lifestyle risk factors.

Backed by the NHS Innovation accelerator, and with more than 200 GP practices partnerships around the UK, Holly Health outcomes show significant average health improvements across areas like exercise, mental wellbeing, weight and blood pressure. Additionally, GP appointments show consistent reductions after using Holly Health, especially in more frequent service users.

Steve Woodford, NHS Non-Executive Director at NHS England, said: “The NHS has an opportunity to shift towards a proactive, preventive and personalised care system, with the help of technology. Services like Holly Health can help to drive these changes affordably and efficiently. This is a great opportunity for ICB teams, enabling scalable self-management support for people living with or at risk of long-term conditions.”

There are two main ways in which ICSs will be able to launch Holly Health at scale. One is via traditional routes, deploying Holly Health via primary care and public health services. The second, a route fit for the future NHS, is to launch Holly Health to members of the public, via the NHS App, made possible by a brand-new collaboration between Holly Health and Patients Know Best, also announced today.

Patients Know Best (PKB) is the UK’s leading personal health record platform, enabling patients to access and contribute to their health records using the PKB website and via the NHS App. The new Holly Health and PKB integration allows the Holly Health digital health coaching service, and PKB records to ‘speak’ to each other, so that members of the public can transfer blood pressure readings and lifestyle health data into their personal records. ICS teams will also have the new opportunity to reveal access to Holly Health coaching, via PKB and the NHS app, supporting the government’s vision for a single place for people to manage their health.

Grace Gimson, chief executive at Holly Health, said: “We’re extremely excited to make this double announcement: the launch of our Prevention Innovation Fund, and go-live of our partnership with PKB. Both have the potential to drive huge systemic changes in UK healthcare, driving prevention and personalised patient care forward, at population scale.”

Mohammad Al-Ubaydli, chief executive at PKB, said: “Holly Health’s pioneering approach to preventative care, perfectly complements PKB’s mission of empowering patients with their health data. Together, we’re creating a seamless experience where patients can proactively manage their wellbeing and maintain a complete, holistic view of their health, all in one place to share with whoever they need to.”

ICSs, and their equivalents in Scotland and Wales, wishing to find out more about the Prevention Innovation Fund, and to apply, should contact hello@hollyhealth.io.

Catherine Davies, Director of Digital Healthcare Council, commented: “Holly Health’s new Innovation Fund is a great opportunity for NHS systems to deploy evidence-based solutions at scale. Their digital health coaching helps accelerate the Government’s three shifts, particularly from treatment to prevention, delivering measurable outcomes for the NHS while empowering patients to take control of their health.”

AXREM launches imaging IT Manifesto at the home of code breaking

By Integrated Care Journal

On 2nd April, almost 100 AXREM members and key external stakeholders gathered at Bletchley Park Museum for the launch of the AXREM Imaging IT Manifesto: Here to Enhance Patient Care and Improve Outcomes.

AXREM, the Association for Healthcare Technology Providers for Imaging, Radiotherapy and Care, has released its latest manifesto, Here to Enhance Patient Care and Improve Outcomes, at a specially convened event hosted at Bletchley Park. AXREM is the trade association representing the suppliers of diagnostic medical imaging, radiotherapy, healthcare IT and care equipment in the UK.

Bletchley Park was the headquarters of the British Military Intelligence Government Code and Cipher School during World War II. The estate employed 12,000 code breakers and staff. Bletchley Park was where Alan Turing and other agents of the Ultra intelligence project decoded the enemy’s secret messages, most notably those that had been encrypted with the German Enigma and Tunny cipher machines.

The event and venue were supported by headline sponsors Medihive, Sectra and Soliton IT and our other event sponsors Barco and Magentus.

The event kicked off in the Fellowship Auditorium with an opening address by AXREM Chief Executive Office, Sally Edgington, who told the audience: “I am sure you will agree in the world of healthcare, imagination is a powerful tool. It fuels innovation, creativity, and the breakthroughs that transform lives. Every medical advancement we’ve seen and every life-saving treatment, every new technology, every improvement in care began with someone imagining what could be. From the discovery of penicillin to the invention of imaging technologies that AXREM members provide today, that allow us to see inside the body, it all began simply by imagining.

“Imagine a world where communication was entirely encrypted, hidden behind layers of codes and puzzles, making it impossible for anyone to understand the information unless they had the key. For centuries, such encryption kept secrets safe, but it also prevented progress. It was only when brilliant minds like those who broke the Enigma code during World War II decided to challenge the impossible, to unravel the mysteries hidden within the most complex puzzles, that the world began to change. And from that pivotal moment, we saw the birth of a revolution that would eventually shape the future of information technology, transforming every aspect of our lives including healthcare.

“Code-breaking, at its core, is about unlocking potential—breaking down barriers that prevent us from accessing the full power of knowledge. In the field of healthcare, code-breaking represents the key to unlocking new possibilities for how we diagnose, understand, treat, and prevent diseases. It symbolises the ongoing evolution of data, communication, and technology, where each innovation leads to new ways of using information to save lives and improve our well-being.”

The event welcomed Bletchley Park historian Dr Thomas Cheetham who spoke about the history of codebreaking at Bletchley Park and how it is related to modern day cyber security.

David Lawson, Director of MedTech at the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) spoke about getting the basics right to support the adoption of new technologies and discussed some of what DHSC is doing to support this. Richard Evans, Chief Executive of the Society and College of Radiographers spoke about the importance of industry collaboration and the College of Radiographers Industry Partnerships Scheme (CoRIPS). Gareth Lambe, Medihive CEO, spoke about the work of Medihive, while Chris Scarisbrick, Customer Operations Director & Deputy Managing Director UK&I, spoke about Sectra’s work with medical technology and encrypted communication systems.

The focus of the event, however, was on the launch of AXREM’s Imaging IT Manifesto. AXREM Imaging IT Convenor and Chief Commercial Officer at Soliton IT, Bob Childe spoke about the manifesto in detail and concluded with the manifestos calls to action. Bob ended his speech by advising attendees, that AXREM members are our strength, and he hopes that key external stakeholders will call upon AXREM member expertise to assist in addressing many of the things in the manifesto.

Health leaders call for national redundancy pot to fund NHS job cuts

By Integrated Care Journal

NHS leaders are urging the Chancellor to rapidly create a national staff redundancy fund to smooth the pathway to the major budget cuts they are being required to make this year by the government.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) have been charged with cutting their running costs by 50 per cent from October 2025, with individual plans to be submitted for government approval by the end of May 2025. Alongside this, NHS trusts have been told to reduce their “corporate cost growth” by half the amount from the year before the pandemic.

But without a national fund that NHS trusts and ICBs can access, NHS leaders say the redundancy programme will take much longer to deliver and will reduce the level of savings from job cuts that can be delivered this year.

This would mean that the NHS would then start the following financial year, the point at which the government’s Ten-Year Plan for Health would begin its implementation, in a state of financial deficit. Health leaders fear that doing this would put the reform agenda, including the commitment to reduce waiting times to 18 weeks by the end of Parliament and to shift more care into the community, at risk.

While recent media reports have suggested up to 30,000 roles across the NHS could be removed, including through the planned abolition of NHS England, and that the total bill could reach £1bn, the NHS Confederation has heard varying figures from leaders on the extent of their expected cuts.

Some leaders of NHS trusts have said they are each looking to cut between 200 and 500 roles, while some ICB leaders have said they are likely to remove anywhere between 300 and 400.

Several trust leaders said that they were budgeting for around £12m worth of redundancy payouts and associated costs.

When looking at the proportion of the workforce that could be removed across NHS trusts, individual estimates from leaders have varied from 3 per cent to more than 11 per cent.

Health service leaders have warned that without access to a dedicated redundancy fund, as was confirmed for NHS England staff in its abolition in the Spring Statement, the process of scaling down will take much longer than the government has asked.

If they are forced to provide the necessary payouts from their own budgets, they say the process will be markedly slowed down and risks stalling the efficiency savings they can make. Recent analysis has already revealed that the gap between trusts’ regular income and expenditure is £6bn, and that this underlying deficit could derail the government’s reform plans.

One NHS trust CEO said: “Essentially, without clear guidance on underwriting redundancy options, whether these are voluntary, mutual, or compulsory, we are dependent on natural turnover and … [other] processes, which are slow and cumbersome.

“Accelerating savings would be possible if the underwriting of impacts could be funded within the year.”

Another said: “We are not planning a redundancy programme as it will be unaffordable, our plan is to reduce headcount through natural turnover although this puts a level of risk on delivery.”

Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, called on the government to commit to urgently establishing a redundancy fund for NHS trusts and ICBs. He said: “Health leaders understand the troubling financial situation facing the country and the need to improve efficiency where they can, as they have already demonstrated by significantly reducing their planned deficit for the year ahead.

“However, the scale and pace of what has been asked of them to downsize is staggering and leaves them fearful of being able to find the right balance between improving performance and implementing the reforms needed to put the NHS on a sustainable footing.

“They have told us that unless the Treasury urgently creates a national redundancy fund to cover these job losses, any savings the government hopes to make risks being eroded, at best and completely wiped out, at worst. If the Ten-Year Plan for Health is to be realised, it requires the NHS to be in a position of financial stability.”

The call from NHS leaders to create a national redundancy fund comes as the government finalises its Ten-Year Plan for Health as well as the three-year funding settlement that will be announced as part of the Spending Review in June.

NHS leaders anticipate the settlement will be much less than the long term historical average increase of around 4 per cent per year with the government’s latest Spring Statement already revealing that the funding increase for 2026/27 will drop to 1.8 per cent in real terms.

MSE FT deploys AI-powered MyStaff App to boost compliance and efficiency

By Integrated Care Journal

With mounting pressure on nursing staff and increasing emphasis on patient safety protocols, the MyStaff App ensures that every healthcare professional has instant access to the most current clinical guidelines, reducing the risk of outdated information impacting patient care.

An AI-driven document management solution is demonstrating efficiency across NHS frontline services, reducing average document retrieval times from 10 minutes to just 30 seconds and unlocking 140,000 additional hours for patient care at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSE FT).

The MyStaff App, developed in partnership with Diligram, is a cutting-edge digital governance tool designed to simplify access to over 1,500 policies, procedures, and patient care guidelines. By integrating AI-powered search, real-time updates, and mobile-first design, the app is dramatically improving workflow efficiency, reducing risk, and setting a new benchmark for digital transformation in the NHS.

With 90 per cent of the Trust’s 15,000-strong workforce actively using MyStaff App, MSE FT has demonstrated how digital innovation can drive faster, safer, and more streamlined operations across healthcare settings.

Historically, NHS staff have had to navigate outdated, fragmented systems to locate essential documents –leading to wasted time, inconsistent guideline adherence, and increased clinical risk. Before MyStaff App’s implementation, healthcare professionals at MSE FT spent an average of 10 minutes searching for a single document, adding unnecessary delays to decision-making and patient care.

Matthew Hopkins, CEO of MSE FT, explained why the Trust prioritised digital transformation: “One of the biggest inefficiencies in the NHS is time spent navigating multiple systems just to find key policies and clinical guidelines. By using AI to streamline access to critical information, we’re not only saving time but also improving compliance, patient safety, and governance across the Trust.”

Since rolling out MyStaff App in January 2024, staff adoption has risen by 78 per cent, with more than 864 documents accessed every day. These figures highlight a demand for smarter, AI-powered solutions to improve efficiency across NHS frontline services.

MyStaff App’s most significant advantage lies in its advanced AI search functionality, which allows users to retrieve the latest policies and procedures in under 30 seconds. This represents a 95 per cent reduction in search time, drastically minimising interruptions to patient care. The app’s intelligent indexing and natural language processing (NLP) capabilities mean that healthcare professionals can search for information using everyday language, removing the need for complex keyword-based queries.

Describing the impact of instant access to patient information leaflets, Dr Alex Hieatt, Consultant in Emergency Medicine at MSE FT, said: “Having immediate digital access to policies and patient information has transformed the way we work. It reduces delays, ensures patients receive guidance faster, and improves overall safety and efficiency.”

This is particularly valuable in high-pressure environments such as emergency departments, critical care and maternity services, where staff need to make rapid, evidence-based decisions without being slowed down by administrative barriers.

Beyond efficiency, MyStaff App is also enhancing governance and compliance. Before the app’s introduction, guideline compliance at MSE FT stood at 76 per cent. Since adoption, compliance rates have surged to 98 per cent and have remained consistently high for over six months.

Harriet Dobbs, Matron in Antenatal and Postnatal Services, highlighted how digital transformation is reducing clinical variation and improving consistency in patient care: “Having a single source of truth for policies means that when a guideline is updated, every nurse and doctor is working from the most current version. That kind of real-time synchronisation is critical for patient safety and regulatory compliance.”

With real-time audit tracking, MyStaff App allows healthcare leaders to monitor which documents are being accessed, when, and by whom – providing unprecedented visibility into workforce engagement and compliance levels.

As part of the NHS’s £2 billion digital transformation strategy, AI-powered solutions like MyStaff App are playing a crucial role in modernising outdated processes, improving workforce efficiency, and ensuring greater transparency in hospital operations.

Leslie Golding, CEO of Diligram, believes AI-driven automation is the future of NHS digital governance. She commented: “The NHS generates vast amounts of data every day, yet outdated systems mean much of that information is difficult to access or underutilised. MyStaff App is designed to bridge this gap, providing AI-powered automation that makes policy retrieval faster, compliance tracking smarter, and healthcare workflows more efficient.”

Unlike traditional document management systems, MyStaff App is fully optimised for mobile use, ensuring frontline staff can access guidelines from anywhere, at any time—whether on ward rounds, in theatres, or during patient consultations.

The success of MyStaff App at MSE FT has already led to wider adoption, with University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) rolling out the system.

As NHS organisations continue to seek scalable, high-impact digital solutions, MyStaff App’s proven efficiency gains and compliance improvements make it an attractive model for national implementation.

Matthew Hopkins sees MyStaff App as a blueprint for NHS-wide transformation. He said: “One of the biggest inefficiencies in the NHS is time spent navigating multiple systems just to find key policies and clinical guidelines. By using AI to streamline access to critical information, we’re not only saving time but also improving compliance, patient safety, and governance across the Trust.”

With NHS leaders pushing for greater automation, better data management, and AI-enhanced decision-making, MyStaff App is part of a broader shift towards intelligent, integrated digital ecosystems in healthcare.

Key priorities for the next phase of NHS digital transformation include:

Further AI-driven automation to streamline document approval workflows
Integration with wider NHS systems for seamless interoperability
Enhanced analytics to provide Trust leaders with deeper insights into staff engagement and compliance trends

As demand for smarter, AI-powered solutions grows, MyStaff App is proving that real-world digital innovation is possible and already making a measurable impact on NHS frontline efficiency.

Service design, not just structure: The key to meaningful NHS reform

By Dr Erere Ikogho

Dr Erere Ikogho, former NHS doctor and researcher at Nexer Digital, explains why NHS England’s reorganisation needs more than just structural change – it needs a service design mindset.

As NHS England is set to be absorbed into the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), healthcare organisations face a moment of reflection. Structural reforms like this are often framed as pathways to “efficiency” but there is a risk of disrupting frontline services if they’re not grounded in how people actually give and receive care.

The opportunity here isn’t just about reducing bureaucracy. It’s about reframing reform as a service design challenge, focusing on how services work, not just who manages them. This means listening to the people who use, deliver, and support NHS services, and designing around their real needs.

What is service design, and why does it matter?

Service design is a human-centred approach that focuses on understanding the experiences of all stakeholders, including patients, healthcare professionals, and service partners, to create services that are both effective and user-friendly. In the NHS, this means ensuring that services are designed around the real needs of those using and delivering them. By integrating digital solutions and streamlining processes, service design can help create a more accessible and efficient healthcare system.

Too often, NHS reorganisations focus on changing structures rather than improving how services work in practice. The 2012 reforms that created NHS England as an independent body were meant to reduce political interference and improve efficiency, yet they added complexity without always delivering the anticipated benefits. Without a clear understanding of the real challenges and a focus on user needs, the current reorganisation risks repeating these mistakes.

Why traditional reorganisations fail

Many past NHS restructures have assumed that moving responsibilities around will automatically improve efficiency. However, this approach can often lead to disruption rather than real progress. Organisational changes tend to focus on internal hierarchies rather than patient and staff experiences, making it difficult to achieve meaningful improvements. Restructures frequently lack clear, measurable success criteria and instead rely on broad objectives like efficiency savings, which are difficult to translate into real benefits for healthcare staff and patients.

One major risk is failing to anticipate unintended consequences. Restructuring can introduce new administrative burdens, slow down decision-making, or disrupt key services. Without a test-and-learn approach that allows for adjustments, these inefficiencies can persist long after the changes have been implemented. If the government wants this latest reorganisation to deliver results, it must avoid the mistakes of the past by ensuring that reforms are designed around service users rather than internal management structures.

Service design isn’t just for digital teams – it matters in healthcare reform too

To ensure that this restructuring leads to real improvements, NHS England should adopt a service design approach that focuses on solving the actual challenges within the healthcare system rather than simply redistributing responsibilities. Any changes should begin with a clear understanding of the problems that need to be addressed. If the goal is to remove bureaucracy, it is essential to identify where bottlenecks exist and how they impact patient care. If decision-making needs to be faster, the focus should be on improving specific processes rather than altering reporting structures.

Success should be defined in terms of measurable improvements in patient outcomes, staff experience, and operational efficiency, not just the completion of a restructure. This requires engaging with healthcare professionals and patients to understand their needs and ensure that any changes improve care delivery, reduce administrative burdens, and create a more supportive working environment for NHS staff. Without this engagement, the reorganisation risks being disruptive rather than beneficial.

The potential unintended consequences of centralising NHS England’s responsibilities within DHSC must also be considered. While this move may lead to greater political oversight, it could also slow decision-making and stifle innovation. NHS England has been a leader in digital transformation, driving initiatives such as the NHS App, AI healthcare innovations and accessible and inclusive services. Without a dedicated body leading these efforts, progress in digital healthcare may stall. Similarly, procurement processes may become more complex, creating barriers for small and medium-sized enterprises looking to work with the NHS. Identifying these risks in advance will allow for better planning to mitigate them.

The impact on ICBs

Integrated care boards (ICBs) were introduced to drive more joined-up, place-based care. But as NHS England is folded into DHSC, and with ICB budgets being slashed across the country, the pressure on these systems is growing fast.

Leaders are already facing difficult choices, cutting services, managing deficits, and responding to increasing demand. There is also a possibility of some smaller systems merging with one another to consolidate their services and drive further efficiencies. However, without the flexibility to design services around local needs, and without the resources to implement change, there’s a danger that ICBs become implementation arms rather than engines of transformation.

The impact on procurement and SMEs

For SMEs working with the NHS, the reorganisation could present both opportunities and challenges. A more centralised procurement system could create new opportunities, particularly if the government simplifies procurement routes and creates clearer pathways for suppliers. However, there is also a risk that decision-making could slow down during the transition, leading to delays in contracts and uncertainty for businesses that rely on NHS partnerships.

Ensuring that procurement remains transparent and accessible is crucial. SMEs have played a significant role in driving innovation within the NHS, and it is essential that they continue to have opportunities to contribute. If procurement processes become overly complex or inaccessible, smaller providers could struggle to compete with larger organisations, reducing the diversity of suppliers and limiting the NHS’s ability to adopt innovative solutions.

Defining success through outcomes

A successful reorganisation must be measured not by how quickly structures are changed, but by tangible improvements in healthcare delivery. The key indicators of success should include demonstrable improvements in patient outcomes, such as shorter waiting times and higher satisfaction rates. The impact on NHS staff should also be considered, with reduced administrative burdens and more efficient workflows being key measures of success. Operational efficiency should be assessed not just in terms of cost savings but also in how effectively resources are allocated to improve healthcare services.

Without these benchmarks, the NHS risks repeating the mistakes of past reorganisations by focusing on structural changes without ensuring that they translate into real benefits for patients and staff.

A reorganisation that works for everyone

The scrapping of NHS England does not have to be just another bureaucratic reshuffle. If approached correctly, it could create a more efficient, patient-focused, and innovative healthcare system. However, achieving this requires a shift in thinking, moving away from treating reform as an internal organisational exercise and instead viewing it as a service design challenge.

A service design approach ensures that every aspect of the system, from people and processes to supporting infrastructure, is aligned to achieve real improvements. Rather than simply asking how NHS England should be restructured, decision-makers should focus on how NHS staff and patients will experience the change, where potential barriers might emerge, and what measurable improvements should be achieved beyond cost savings.

By embedding service design principles into this reorganisation, the NHS can avoid another cycle of structural change that fails to deliver meaningful results. Instead, it can build a healthcare system that works better for the people who use it and the professionals who keep it running.

Dr Erere Ikogho is a Researcher at Nexer Digital

Digital care homes model could save ICBs £14 million annually, report shows

By Integrated Care Journal

New report sets out a blueprint for transforming health and care in the community, with real-world evidence suggesting that scaling the model across an ICB could reduce the cost of healthcare by £14.2 million annually, and over £360 million nationally.

A validated, integrated model of care delivery is transforming health management in care homes, with the potential to reduce the cost of healthcare for the NHS by millions annually, according to a report published today.

Led by Kent County Council, the model provides the care sector with tools and skills to enable early detection of deterioration and management of health risks – such as infections, chronic cardiac and respiratory issues, and other common causes of falls and exacerbations – reducing unnecessary conveyances and hospital admissions. The approach could deliver £14.2 million in annual savings for local health systems if scaled across all care homes in the Kent and Medway ICB alone, with savings from national adoption exceeding £360 million.

Transforming care through digital innovation and proactive change management

The report, co-authored by Care City – a Barking-based centre for healthy ageing and regeneration – and healthcare consultancy Candesic, in collaboration with Kent County Council and Feebris, proposes a blueprint for integrating data and technology to improve care delivery in the community. The model is built around three key pillars:

Proactive health in care homes: Equipping care staff with advanced training and digital tools to detect health issues early, preventing avoidable deterioration and exacerbations
Integrated multi-disciplinary collaboration: Improving coordination between care homes, GPs and community health teams through a connected digital infrastructure, allowing for the delivery of joined-up, person-centred care for residents with complex needs
Hospital-level care in care homes: Ensuring residents receive the care they need in the most suitable setting, cutting down avoidable hospital admissions and supporting care homes to manage acute health needs where appropriate

Real-world impact: Improving outcomes while reducing avoidable utilisation of emergency services

Focusing on the first pillar, the report includes an evaluation of a 12-month initiative running in Kent and Medway. Through this project, the Feebris virtual care platform was deployed across 24 care homes to deliver early risk assessment and proactive monitoring for 1,000 residents.

The evaluation demonstrates the impact of the integrated digital model of care delivery proposed, with key findings including:

75 per cent of care homes adopted proactive health workflows, enabling earlier detection of deterioration
8x fewer care homes experienced high volatility in care needs, improving resource allocation
Over 50 per cent fewer care homes reported above-average ambulance callouts, with 70 per cent fewer reporting high hospital conveyance rates
Hospital admissions dropped by 20 per cent, reducing strain on the NHS and improving resident outcomes

For care home residents, this means receiving personalised care that allows them to remain healthier for longer in a familiar environment. By detecting deterioration early, the appropriate healthcare service can intervene sooner and reduce any potential distress and disruption caused by emergency admissions while also mitigating risk of deconditioning.

£530,000 in NHS savings for every 1,000 care home residents annually

Over the 12-month period, the reductions in hospital admissions and ambulance callouts resulted in an estimated £530,000 in NHS savings, with 860 bed days freed up for every 1,000 care home residents, leading to a 5.2X Return on Investment.

Helen Gillivan, Head of Innovation and Partnerships at Kent County Council, said: “We’re proud to have led this successful initiative at Kent County Council, which is making a real difference to care homes, care staff and some of our most frail residents across Kent and Medway. Care teams tell us this system has become part of everyday practice, helping them to deliver more responsive, person-centred care that benefits both staff and residents.

“Social care is critical to the sustainability of our entire health and care system. As this research shows, investing in the sector doesn’t just benefit care providers – it strengthens the wider system, improving outcomes for our staff and for residents while easing pressure on health services.”

Removing barriers to scale: What can we change today to drive long-term transformation?

While the findings highlight the impact of digital innovation in social care, the report also puts the spotlight on key structural barriers preventing widespread adoption. It highlights a number of recommendations, including:

Restructuring financial incentives to enable social care providers to resource delivery of preventative interventions, given the impact demonstrated with the model adopted by Kent and Medway.
Strengthening the care workforce through greater investment in training and development, helping to attract and retain talent and recognising the vital role played in supporting ageing populations and reducing growing system pressures.

Matt Skinner, CEO of Care City, said: “This report is proof that social care can and must play a bigger role in the future of our health system. By empowering care staff with the right tools, training and trust, we can improve outcomes, reduce emergency demand and deliver more joined-up, preventative care. It’s been a privilege to support this work and co-author a blueprint for transformation that we hope will inspire action across the country.”

Dr Michelle Tempest, Senior Partner at Candesic, said: “This report represents a huge effort in gathering real-world data from across health, community and social care to showcase real impact and set out a proven model of transformation that meets the needs of our ageing populations. At a time when ICBs are under immense pressure and need support, this work provides an actionable roadmap to driving sustainability and impact.”

Tracy Stocker, Director of Operations at Medway NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are pleased to see the results of our colleagues in Kent County Council and excited to say that we are aligned in our approach and looking forward to linking this work up with our Virtual Hospital vision. This is a springboard to building connected virtual ecosystems of care, centred on the patient, meeting them where they are, and coordinating our resources in the most efficient way.”

Dr Elina Naydenova, CEO and Co-Founder of Feebris, said: “It’s long been clear that transformational change is required to meet the growing challenges faced by the system, and as today’s report highlights, our partners at Kent County Council are leading the way with their approach. Given the tremendous financial pressures on health and care globally, now is the time for a grassroots movement of forward-thinking organisations to come together and evolve the care model to meet these challenges head-on.”

A summary and the full white paper can be accessed here.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact leo@feebris.com.

A broken process that is digitised is still broken – reflections from Rewired 2025

By David Duffy

Rewired 2025 offered a timely and valuable touchpoint for a healthcare sector still absorbing the shockwaves of seismic reform and uncertainty. Speakers struck a careful balance between optimism about the future and realism about what is possible in a resource-constrained environment.

A growing realisation is taking hold: there will never be enough money to meet every demand, so the key lies in driving system-wide improvements and enabling local innovators to lead the way. With this in mind, Rewired’s vast array of digital experts, NHS leaders and industry stakeholders put forward a cautiously optimistic vision of UK health and care’s future, with some using the platform to inject a dose of realism into the digital healthcare debate.

Abolishing NHS England – opportunity or risk?

Just days after the Prime Minister’s announcement to abolish NHS England, Rewired 2025 provided a platform for the sector to process the news and begin charting a path forward. Senior leaders, including NHS England’s Transformation Director Vin Diwakar acknowledged the gravity of the decision. However, he and many senior figures speaking at Rewired framed it as a necessary step to reduce barriers to digital innovation.

While uncertainty about the future was evident, the conference floor was abuzz with anticipation for the upcoming 10-Year Plan and how this can unlock innovation across health and care.

Diwakar also used his keynote to reassure innovators and tech suppliers that the Government remains committed to digital investment, with a stronger focus on interoperability and unified procurement. There is a sense that NHS England’s merge with DHSC presents an opportunity to free local innovators to drive implementation at pace.

Tech alone won’t solve the productivity crisis

NHS productivity fell by over 20 per cent in 2020/21, and bringing this back to pre-pandemic levels remains a monumental challenge. The government (much like every government in living memory) has claimed the solution lies in a digital future driven by AI.

There is no doubt that digital innovation and AI are part of the solution, but they are not magic bullets for this deeply complex issue. Increased digitisation does not automatically lead to increased productivity. As Pritesh Mistry of The King’s Fund put it:

“If you digitse a broken process, you get a broken digital process.”

The need to be realistic about digital was repeatedly borne out during discussions, with agreement that it is the job of sector leaders to tamper expectations and chart a realistic, iterative path to transformation.

Dr Marc Farr of East Kent NHS Foundation Trust highlighted the importance of reframing digital innovation to ensure staff buy-in. Technology should not only improve efficiency but also enhance staff satisfaction and happiness. All staff understand the need to be more efficient, but tech should also make the NHS a happier place to work. Stephen Powis echoed this in his keynote address, emphasising how effective digital tools can boost staff satisfaction and retention in primary care.

Getting a better deal on tech

Professor Powis also called for the NHS to drive better value from tech procurement, drawing comparisons with the NHS’s ability to negotiate favourable drug prices. A more strategic approach to tech investment could deliver better outcomes and cost efficiencies.

In a time where the NHS is being constantly told to live within its means and drive up productivity before receiving more funding, perhaps it’s time for tech suppliers to be held to account for extracting digital benefits. With such focus on short-term savings, the business cases for digital transformation are increasingly difficult to develop. It was suggested that suppliers who benefit from recurring funding from lucrative NHS contracts should take a more central role in ensuring trusts and systems are able to extract value from their solutions. Enhanced collaboration is surely good for business, good for the NHS, and good for patients.

True benefits of AI will be unlocked at system level

Dr Jess Morley of Yale University provided a refreshing dose of realism on AI in healthcare. In short, we have a long way to go before AI can transform our system.

The current impact of AI on NHS services is tiny, with significant limitations in infrastructure holding back its capability. As Dr Morley argued, “AI is a system level technology that allows us to redefine healthcare for the 21st century for modern populations, not simply address old problems with reskinned, age-old solutions.”

Healthcare is not just medicine, and the most important and impactful interventions (vaccines, testing, screening, etc) are made at the population level. In this context Dr Morley argued that the NHS is still only focusing AI on problems we already know how to solve, such as reading scans, rather than using it to transform systems. To harness AI’s full potential, it should be applied to developing population-level interventions.

Dr Morley went on to assert that our NHS approach to digital innovation is not yet centred on the right problems. The much-lauded potential of a single patient record across the UK, earmarked by many across the sector as the NHS’ key to future survival and sustainability, is “not a solution to modern problems”, and can never be paradigm-shifting as long as transformational thinking is based in silos.

What about social care?

One notable gap in the discussions for which I was present was the lack of progress in digital adoption within social care. There is a risk that, amid the current phase of NHS reform, social care could once again be left behind. Achieving digital parity between the NHS and social care remains a significant challenge and, if James Mackey’s new NHS England transition team is anything to go by, social care is going to be waiting a while before it receives the same attention for service transformation as the NHS.

Rewired 2025 underscored the need for both strategic investment and realistic expectations about what digital can achieve. The sector is moving towards a more mature understanding of tech’s role – not as a cure-all, but as a vital tool for improving both productivity and staff experience.