Laying the foundations for a digital NHS
An interdisciplinary team of Edinburgh academics is leading a groundbreaking project to evaluate a government scheme aimed at revolutionising the National Health Service (NHS) in England for the digital age.
Researchers at the University’s Usher Institute for Population Health Sciences & Informatics have been tasked with independently assessing the scheme’s effectiveness, which could transform the NHS for the 21st century.
A digital revolution
Digitisation has the potential to reshape healthcare, impacting on almost all conceivable disciplines, from aiding early diagnosis of cancers, to supporting better discharge of patients from hospital. Data-driven healthcare could also provide the framework for individualised care, supporting the move away from a one-size-fits-all approach into an era of personalised medicine, where large data sets shed light on the impact of individuals’ lifestyles and genetics that influence their response to drugs and diseases.
Aziz Sheikh, Director of the Usher Institute and Professor of Primary Care Research and Development, believes that digitisation could have a huge impact on the clinical experience for patients, supporting doctors and nurses as well as administrative staff working at the coal face of the NHS.
“There is no shortage of quality improvements that could be made by effectively using digital technology within hospitals – the opportunity is absolutely phenomenal,” he says. “However, we must make sure we approach digitisation correctly.”
There is no shortage of quality improvements that could be made by effectively using digital technology within hospitals – the opportunity is absolutely phenomenal.
Assessing NHS technology
The UK Government-backed Global Digital Exemplars (GDE) programme is a flagship NHS England scheme that focuses on leading NHS hospitals that are already using digital technology to provide first-class patient care. Each GDE is a digitally mature NHS hospital site – a known centre of excellence – that could act as a springboard hub for advancing digitally-enabled healthcare.
A key aspect of the GDE project – borne out of recommendations from the National Advisory Group on Health Information Technology in England report, Making IT Work – is that it is independently evaluated as the scheme is rolled out. Academics at Edinburgh have joined forces with University College London and NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Units to assess the programme as it unfolds, offering a unique chance to mould the programme as it is rolled out.
Professor Robin Williams, Chair in Social Research on Technology and Director of the Institute for the Study of Science, Technology & Innovation at the University leads the evaluation project and believes that the GDEs could have wide-reaching impact.
“This is an unprecedented initiative to achieve nationwide learning by identifying successful examples of digital transformation,” he says. “This knowledge of effective digital solutions and changes could then be made available across the NHS, transforming the healthcare system. Our input will also allow things to be reshaped or reprioritised as the project evolves.”
Dr Kathrin Cresswell, Director of Innovation at the University’s Usher Institute and scientific lead of the GDE evaluation, is impressed with the impact of the project: “It is exciting to see our research findings feeding back into policy and practice through continuous discussion with NHS England.”
The research team is using a number of evaluation techniques, including interviewing people working within the NHS sites, from senior IT management staff to those working in patient-facing roles. They will also assess the effect of digitisation on reducing risks, looking at ways that IT could help improve safety by, for example, supporting busy wards to ensure that patients receive drugs at precisely the correct times. Relationships built between the GDEs and so-called fast follower sites will also be assessed, identifying networks that have been built to support shared learning.
Upskilling digital health professionals
While world-class digital infrastructure is key to improving the NHS, it is in itself not enough. Together with colleagues at Imperial College London and Harvard University, the academics have also developed a blended training programme – NHS Digital Academy.
This one-year course, co-led by Professor Sheikh and Lord Sir Ara Darzi of Imperial College London, is upskilling information technology professionals within hospitals across NHS England and NHS Scotland to improve digital leadership capacity and capability. It will extend to include NHS Wales from 2019. The final course is a result of collaboration from international experts and is composed of a mixture of online and residential modules with a real-life NHS-facing project to apply learning.
“Our inputs to the NHS Digital Academy will help to train a new generation of digital health professionals ready to put these skills into practice to benefit the health service for patients and staff alike”, explains Dr Cresswell.
This year saw the NHS mark its 70th anniversary, a time to celebrate the achievements of the staff who care for the one million people seen every 36 hours in NHS England alone. As we look to the next 70 years, Professor Sheikh, who plays a central role in The Lancet and the London School of Economics’ Commission: The Future of the NHS, is convinced that data will only become more important.
“This is a one-way street, we have to digitise,” he explains. “Our team is committed to solving key challenges, including the best ways to ethically and safely house the precious data that are held within the NHS. What will become really important is that our data science capability in the UK and Edinburgh is a shining example of how to use data to transform care, experiences and outcomes for patients. I believe that we are in a fantastic position to support the NHS for future generations.”
Video
Professor Aziz Sheikh talks about the digitisation of healthcare.