Governments of all stripes have encouraged the use of technology across the healthcare system, employing new tools to speed up communication between healthcare professionals, improve patient care, and deliver better diagnostics.
This embrace of the new has only increased in response to other external pressured adding to the stress on the system. According to an Ipsos poll published in July, 69% of people ranked ‘fixing the NHS’ as the highest priority out of Keir Starmer’s five missions for government, and digital transformation will inevitably play a role in this.
In 2019, the NHS app launched, and it had unprecedented benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was one of the first apps in the world to detect and alert people of whether they were at risk of COVID-19, using Google App technology. The platform allowed people to easily book vaccination appointments and safely travel abroad using the NHS Covid passport, which indicated people’s vaccination status.
And the app continues to provide benefits post-pandemic. The plethora of information on the app and its accessibility enhances the management of the NHS, but also enables more informed discussions between patients and doctors.
Furthermore, a poll carried out by the Health Foundation has found that a majority of NHS staff support the use of Artificial Intelligence in patient care. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology have bolstered this claim by recently unveiling AI projects aiming to improve the efficiency of public services, including NHS prescription deliveries. This project is set to receive a share of £32 million and will enable technology to match the delivery needs of retailers and hospitals by cutting delivery journey times and carbon emissions, as well as improving patients’ overall experience.
While these innovative new systems offer a wealth of opportunity to improve efficiency and health outcomes across the system, our reliance on them presents its own set of challenges. Particularly, the growing risk of cyberattacks on platforms that possess the most confidential information of millions of people.
We have already seen that cyberattacks have exacerbated the already gruelling waiting times for NHS patients and disturbed the supply chain of the UK’s healthcare system and other public services. In 2020, for example, disruption ensued among NHS trusts and hospitals in south-east London after hackers targeted the pathology and blood test supplier Synnovis. This regional, yet nationally significant, attack triggered 1,130 planned operations and 2,190 outpatient appointments to be postponed.
This poses the question: How, and will, the government attempt to ‘fix the NHS’ whilst protecting the nation’s health data?
The newly elected Labour government outlined a number of Bills in the recent King’s Speech including the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill and the Digital Information and Smart Data Bill. These two measures can help mandate the necessary provisions for organisations to secure their data systems. Also announced were efforts to improve digital verification services and smart data schemes, to create more secure platforms for sharing customer information with third parties.
But will this be enough?
Protecting Britain’s digital infrastructure appears to be a priority for the new government with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) playing a key role, working closely with the Cabinet and HM Treasury to be the “digital centre of government”.
In the coming months, many will be keeping a close eye on the progression of the Bills set out in the King’s Speech which will in turn highlight government priorities. Government departments such as the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and DSIT already play a large role in the responsibility of cybersecurity. However, we may see specialised health technology companies or cybersecurity experts being consulted to assist the formulation of policy in a quick and effective manner – mirroring Labour’s message in the run-up to the election that they are open and willing to involve business.