People in England will receive more health treatments online, allowing them to check NHS records, receive messages from their GP and visit virtual wards, according to government plans to digitize healthcare.
Ministers hope that the expansion of technology will free up hospital beds and time for clinicians, allowing doctors and nurses to remotely monitor about 500,000 people.
The Digital Health and Welfare Plan, released on Wednesday, also sets out how patients will be able to manage hospital appointments, book Covid vaccines and have virtual counseling through the NHS app, which 28 million people already have, by March 2023.
Health Minister Sajid Javid said: “We are embarking on a radical modernization program that will ensure that the NHS is set up to meet the challenges of 2048, not 1948, when it was first set up.
“Providing more personalization and better connection to the system will benefit patients, free up clinicians’ time and help us eliminate Covid accumulation.”
The Department of Health and Welfare (DHSC) said the plan, which will use £ 2bn of money earmarked for the NHS to digitize spending, aims to “save billions of taxpayers’ money while boosting economic growth and private investment ‘.
The department said more than 280,000 people have already used remote monitoring at home and in long-term care homes in the past year, which has led to improved results, with problems taken earlier, shorter hospital stays and less intake.
Until September 2024, patients will be able to undergo pre-assessment examinations at the hospital from home.
The plan is based on the NHS data strategy announced by Javid this month, which aims to register three-quarters of the adult population in England in the NHS app over the next two years. He said it would give them “more control over their own care at home, deal with problems sooner and seek help sooner”.
Under the latest plan, care teams will also be able to share information better through integrated digital health and social records.
Less than half (45%) of social care providers use a digital social care file, and 23% of nursing home staff do not have permanent access to the Internet at work, according to DHSC.
Dr Timothy Ferris, National Director for Transformation at NHS England and NHS Improvement, said the plan “sets an ambitious vision for a future in which the NHS provides more power and information at the fingertips of patients and staff have the tools to they need to provide better and more integrated services for those who need them. ”
Leila McKay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said the plan was an “important step” to allow for the wider sharing of vital data, but warned that implementation “would be a challenge and should be done carefully. so as not to exacerbate inequality ”, including by investing in IT infrastructure and recruiting and retaining workforce in the NHS.
A national digital workforce strategy is to be developed, which will create another 10,500 positions in the data and technology workforce as part of several measures aimed at strengthening workers’ skills and making the NHS an attractive place to work for digital professionals. . How to use digital technology will also be included in university curricula in degrees that train future NHS staff, while accessible training will be provided to older social workers.
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Dr Pritesh Mistry, a digital associate at the King’s Fund, said the biggest risk to the government’s vision was “a lack of capacity in the healthcare and care workforce”.
He added: “NHS and welfare staff are already under a lot of pressure and many will wonder where they will find the time to learn new technology skills, change organizational culture to work better with technology innovators. and avoid the implementation trap. new technology without adequate consultation with staff and patients who will use it. “
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