Details of NHS digital productivity programme leaked online

Details of a major NHS programme aimed at maximising frontline productivity through the effective use of digital, have been leaked on LinkedIn.

The Frontline Productivity (FP) programme, which is expected to launch in April, will succeed the Frontline Digitisation programme, which aimed to support NHS trusts to reach a core level of digitisation, when it ends in March.

Unlike the digitisation programme, which focused on electronic patent record (EPR) roll-out in secondary care, the productivity programme will have a wider scope, also concentrating on  infrastructure, cyber security and change.

A source told Digital Health News that Dermot Ryan, director of digital at NHS England, is responsible for the programme, with the budget and business case yet to be approved.

Leaked slides, shared with tech companies at a Tech UK event in December, revealed details of the programme.

“The FP programme operating model will bring together transformational digital investment funds, intended for the frontline, into a single programme/portfolio.

“This will enable a consolidated planning, delivery assurance and support process with frontline organisations,” the slides say.

The programme will support the ambitions of the NHS 10 year health plan which includes a target for the NHS to deliver a 2% year on year productivity gain over three years, partially through the use of technology.

The FP programme is planned to be less capital heavy and will include multi-year, matched funding balanced over a four-year period, plus “extensive non-financial support”.

Spending objectives are aimed at reducing the productivity drag of legacy technology, increasing productivity gains from existing digital assets, and supporting organisations to develop capability in digital change management.

It will also focus on reducing cyber security risk in core frontline digitisation infrastructure and increasing resilience to external threats to the NHS.

Rather than focusing on technology acquisition and levelling up, the new programme will look at exploiting technology and helping the shift to non-acute.

Responsibility for delivery will sit with providers, systems and regions, rather than nationally as with the Frontline Digitisation programme.

Local need will determine the portfolio mix, with a catalogue of eligible frontline productivity capabilities, including productivity enhancement focused on EPR optimisation through tools such as clinical support and AI, ambient voice technology, and federated data platform use cases.

Digital medicines and digital support for voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations are also included in the catalogue.

There will also be support for organisations to “deliver sustainable transformational change” through centralised change management and digital adoption resources and training for NHS organisations.

Liam Cahill, founder of business consulting firm Together Digital, told Digital Health News: “Whilst the program suggests exploiting more of what we already have, it feels like many of the categories suggest it’s going to be a wraparound iteration with complementary technologies adding on to the existing EPRs.

“It feels like this could provide a positive bit of market making and offer some incentive to the bigger incumbent suppliers to innovate a bit more.

“To get this right, NHS England needs to learn from the ridiculous level of bureaucracy that came along with the last iteration of the programme.”

Digital Health News contacted NHS England for comment.