A damning report into the state of the NHS has called for a major overhaul, highlighting how technology in the service lags 15 years behind the private sector.
Carried out by Lord Darzi, the report looked at the performance of the NHS across England and the challenges facing the healthcare system, saying the service is in “serious trouble”. The report emphasises that there must be a “major tilt towards technology to unlock productivity” within the service.
Specifically, for NHS staff working outside hospitals, the benefits of digital systems are urgently needed, with the report pointing to the “enormous potential” in AI to transform both healthcare and life sciences breakthroughs to create new treatments.
Highlighting that the NHS has been “starved of capital”, it notes the NHS is operating with outdated technology equipment, a lack of automation, and with parts of the NHS yet to be digitised.
This lack of investment has also left the NHS 15 years behind the private sector when it comes to utilising new technologies.
Lord Darzi writes in the report: “Over the past 15 years, many sectors of the economy have been radically reshaped by digital technologies. Yet the NHS is in the foothills of digital transformation.
“The last decade was a missed opportunity to prepare the NHS for the future and to embrace the technologies that would enable a shift in the model from ‘diagnose and treat’ to ‘predict and prevent’—a shift I called for in High Quality Care for All, more than 15 years ago.”
Citing a chronic capital underinvestment in technologies with a shortfall of £37 billion, Lord Darzi suggests that these missing billions “are what would have been invested if the NHS had matched peer countries’ levels of capital investment in the 2010s.”
Such an investment could have prevented the backlog maintenance, modernised technology and equipment, and paid for the 40 new hospitals that were promised but which have yet to materialise, Lord Darzi writes.
NHS tech expert Chris Fleming, Partner at digital transformation consultancy Public Digital, responded to the report, stating that: “The Darzi Review is the latest in a long line of reports over the years which suggest technology is a vital prescription for the NHS’s problems. There is undoubtedly a role for technology in NHS modernisation, but it must be deployed in the right places and in the right way to have any chance of making a real difference.
“Lord Darzi rightly states that technology in the NHS lags far behind other industries – and that technology investment needs to be deployed in primary care and prevention. However, there are three big mistakes the NHS has continued to make, which will be essential to address if the NHS is to harness the power of technology to ultimately achieve better outcomes for patients.
“Firstly, the NHS software market is broken: too few companies have monopolies over software in both primary and secondary care, for instance in the contexts of GP systems or pathology, meaning that the NHS is relying heavily on outdated systems with little choice to move to competitors. The NHS needs to create a more competitive marketplace to drive up the quality of software and improve the user experience for NHS staff across the system.
“Secondly, the NHS must ensure it is able to create the capacity among its staff to ensure teams can make good use of new technology. There is no point buying more scanners if we don’t have the technicians to manage them, or providing NHS trusts with capital to buy a new software system without any revenue to appoint teams to operate it.
“Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the NHS must go back to basics by developing and enforcing common technology and digital standards that apply across the whole system. While shiny new technologies like AI get politicians very excited, it is imperative that solid foundations are in place, so that the NHS can make best use of technology to achieve much-needed reform.”
“It’s promising to see Lord Darzi’s report calling for the rapid digitisation of the NHS. For too long the NHS has been a complete mishmash of different systems that don’t work together, it needs to change,” added Jonathan Patrick, an NHS tech expert and the CEO of Consultant Connect, who has been working since 2015 to speed up and improve patient care in the NHS through digitisation.
“Some of the computer code dates back to the 1980s and many places rely on admin personnel to do things on paper that tech can do automatically
“We need technology that gets the most out of the doctors and hospitals we have. We should prioritise technology that improves communication between different bits of the NHS. I’ve seen first hand how this can streamline care, avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and ensure patients who need urgent treatment get it.
“The government should implement the best tech at a national level and ensure that it is rolled out across the whole of the NHS. The tech needs to be joined up and outdated systems axed. It is the only way we will see true transformation in the NHS, save money and care for those in society that need it most.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has responded to the report by saying he will pledge the “biggest reimagining of our NHS since its birth”.
The PM commented in a press statement to say: “What we need is the courage to deliver long-term reform – major surgery not sticking plaster solutions. The NHS is at a fork in the road, and we have a choice about how it should meet these rising demands.
“Raise taxes on working people to meet the ever-higher costs of ageing population – or reform to secure its future. We know working people can’t afford to pay more, so it’s reform or die.”
Lisa Harris, chief operating officer at Mizaic, a healthtech company working with over 25 NHS Trusts, commented: “The NHS report is concerning, but it reflects something those of us working with the NHS over the past few years have been aware of and have been striving to change.
“We welcome the recognition of this issue and fully support the focus on leveraging technology, including electronic patient records (EPRs), as a key driver for improving patient care and experience. The story shared about parents repeatedly having to relay their child’s medical history is heartbreaking and highlights why EPRs are essential.
“Every clinician involved in a patient’s care should have access to their complete medical history at every stage of treatment, sparing families the emotional distress of retelling their story and allowing healthcare professionals to make better-informed decisions, faster.
“We wholeheartedly support the move from an analogue to a digital NHS and look forward to the 10-year plan to transform national healthcare in the UK, with technology as one of the three key points. We believe this shift will not only improve patient outcomes but also ease the burden on frontline staff, giving them the tools they need to provide care more efficiently.”
Lord Darzi writes in the report: “Everyone knows that the health service is in trouble and that NHS staff are doing their best to cope with the enormous challenges.
“The sheer scope of issues facing the health service, however, has been hard to quantify or articulate. That is why this report has not held back, even if it has been a rapid assessment over just nine weeks.
“Although I have worked in the NHS for more than 30 years, I have been shocked by what I have found during this investigation — not just in the health service but in the state of the nation’s health.”
