The shift from analogue to digital is the one thing that will make a ‘demonstrable improvement’ to the NHS, according to health secretary Wes Streeting.
In his evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) this morning (18 December), Mr Streeting was asked to choose between the three strategic priorities: hospital to community, sickness to prevention and analogue to digital. He was asked if he was unable to do all three, which one would he pick.
Mr Streeting answered that this would be the shift from analogue to digital.
He said: ‘If there is one thing that would make a demonstrable improvement in the patient experience, the level of personalised care and the extent to which we can run and lead this system more effectively and efficiently that is around the shift from analogue to digital.’
He added that when he speaks to NHS staff about using AI, machine learning and genomics to help diagnose and treat earlier and to predict and prevent sickness that many ask for more basic technology.
‘What I get from a lot of NHS staff is that it sounds brilliant, but I’d just like it if when I turned the machine on in the morning, it turned on reliably, I’d really like it if I didn’t have to use seven passwords to login to deal with the one patient sat behind me,’ he said.
‘We’ve got to get the basics right. We’ve got to deliver and be a world leader in life sciences and med tech agenda. That’s where the health mission and the growth mission of this government are perfectly aligned.’
He added that the government would have ‘failed’ if they had got to the end of the parliament and they had not delivered meaningful, demonstrable shifts from hospital to community and from sickness to prevention as well.
‘If we don’t fix the front door to the NHS, we will continue to see levels of unmanageable demand,’ he said.
He added that his department was ‘serious’ about shifting from hospital to community care.
‘Without pre-announcing decisions which are still in the final stages of being taken, people will see in the choices I’m making about how to invest over the coming year that I will be walking the talk on hospital to community,’ said Mr Streeting.
The health secretary said that the 10-year plan, which is expected next year, will set out actions on how these shifts will take place, not just vision and value statements.
He added that key decisions will also be released in the new year, including planning guidance, public health grant allocations and GP funding arrangements.
Systems were told last month that planning guidance would ‘hopefully’ be out before Christmas, in a separate evidence session to the HSCC by chief executive of NHS England, Amanda Pritchard, chief financial officer at NHS England, Julian Kelly and permanent secretary for the DHSC, Sir Chris Wormald.
The Prime Minister Keir Starmer had also previously committed to reveal GP funding arrangements by the end of the year when asked how the government would alleviate the impact of National Insurance contribution hikes.
However, today’s evidence session suggested these will not arrive until new year now. But Mr Streeting warned GP practices against ‘taking decisions ahead of seeing the allocations’ for 2025/26.
He said: ‘I did say to hospices that we would make an announcement before Christmas. That’s next week, and I intend to keep that promise.
‘And then, more broadly, I’m mindful of people needing to make decisions around their organisations for the year ahead, so I think we need to come to this early in the new year at the latest, and that’s what we will do.’
The health secretary added he was working through a funding package to stabilise the community pharmacy sector, recognising that it is under ‘enormous pressure’ and that he wanted to create a ‘more stable foundation from which to build a better future’ for the sector’.
He said this would be his ‘number one focus’ before creating an expanded role for the sector.
Mr Streeting also said the investment standard protecting spending on mental health care would stay, which has been welcomed by health leaders.
Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive, NHS Providers, said: ‘This is great news.
‘As well as very welcome Mental Health Act reforms much more is needed to make sure that people everywhere – especially children and young people – can get high-quality mental health care when they need it.’
It comes as the NHS is using AI to identify patients likely to become frequent users of A&E across England so it can be proactive about their care and reduce demand on emergency services.
