The government has set out a new ten-year plan for the NHS, with technology as one of the three core strands for reform. The plan promises to take the service “from analogue to digital” and make the NHS the most AI-enabled health system in the world.
The strategy puts digital transformation – and digital skills - at the heart of how the NHS will improve care, address productivity and support the health tech sector.
From wearables and robotics to data and genomics, new tools will be used to personalise treatment, boost efficiency and ease pressure on staff. The target is a 2% productivity gain each year for the next three years.
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The NHS App will become the main digital front door to care by 2028, with features allowing patients to manage long-term conditions, book tests, consult specialists, and coordinate care for relatives.
Digital skills for NHS staff will go hand in hand with digital transformation. The plan promises to, “make AI every nurse’s and doctor’s trusted assistant”, helping to save time and support clinical decision-making.
Crucially, it adds that staff will be given the skills to use this technology responsibly: “Over the next three years, education and training curricula will be overhauled to future-proof the NHS workforce. Every member of staff will also have a personalised career coaching and development plan to help them build new skills and work at the top of their professional capability.”
Key technology announcements:
AI and Automation:
- All hospitals will be fully AI-enabled within the plan’s lifetime.
- AI will become every nurse’s and doctor’s trusted assistant, saving them time and supporting them in decision making
- Single Patient Record: A secure, centralised digital health record that the government says will give patients real control of their data, enabling more personalised, predictive and coordinated care.
NHS App Transformation:
- By 2028, the app will serve as the digital front door to NHS services.
- Features will include same-day GP booking, direct test access, care planning tools, and self-referrals.
- Modular tools ("My GP", "My Care", "My Specialist" etc.) will support chronic care management, family care, and medication tracking.
Innovation and Adoption:
- Wearables to become standard care tools by 2035, with free provision in deprived areas.
- Expand NICE’s technology appraisal process to cover devices, diagnostics and digital products.
- NICE will also be given a new role to identify which outdated technologies and therapies can be removed from the NHS to free up resources for investment in more effective ones.
Workforce and Training:
- Every member of the NHS staff to have their own personalised career coaching and development plan, to help them acquire new skills and practice at the top of their professional capability.
- Digital and AI competencies embedded in all training pathways to future-proof the workforce.
Productivity Goals:
- NHS to achieve 2% year-on-year productivity growth for the next three years, supported by technology and process modernisation.
BCS’ Response
As the professional body for IT, BCS welcomes, and is ready to support, the emphasis on investment in the digital skills of all NHS staff, as well as in AI and digital technology itself. Realising the government’s vision depends not only on innovation, but on the people and systems behind it.
BCS’ Policy Recommendations:
Commit to a 10-Year Digital Transformation Plan
A long-term digital strategy is essential to ensure the successful and sustainable implementation of technology, including AI, across the NHS.
Make digital professionalism central to the plan
Encourage and enable existing NHS digital, data, and technology staff to be professionally registered, building public trust in the safe, ethical, accountable, and effective use of technology.
Develop structured digital career pathways
Support NHS staff with investment in digital training, clear career routes, and access to professional registration and accreditation.
Ensure ethical deployment of high-stakes technologies
Ethics and safety must guide technology deployment. BCS urges the NHS and government to embed ethical standards, and robust, transparent governance into every stage of system design and deployment.
Empower digital leaders
CIOs, CCIOs and NHS digital teams must be adequately resourced, recognised and supported to lead transformational change effectively.
Will Smart, Chair of the BCS Faculty of Health and Care said:
"The plan rightly emphasises investment in the digital skills of all NHS staff. The NHS currently employs over 40,000 staff in digital, data and technology roles and they are key partners in delivering the transformed service
“The government must also ensure it matches its investment in technology with a clear strategy for the digital transformation of the health service in England. We look forward to working with the government and the wider NHS to ensure the digital profession is engaged and equipped to deliver the necessary tools and services to realise its vision.”
