The NHS digitisation initiative, forecast to deliver £29.8 billion in benefits, has been moved from amber to red on the traffic-light system used by the IPA as trusts struggle to keep up
The time scale and budget for implementing the NHS digitisation initiative ‘appears to be unachievable’, as trusts report issues with EPR implementation nationally.
NHS digitisation supporting the use of digital technology in key NHS sectors will now be pushed back by a year, as the current 2025 deadline for implementing electronic patient records looks more unrealistic, says the government’s Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA).
An NHS spokesperson said: “The NHS is investing £2.3bn to ensure key parts of the NHS have the right digital foundations in place to share information so health and care staff can provide the best possible care to patients.
“We are working closely with the Infrastructure and Projects Authority to complete all the relevant recommendations from their report.”
NHS digitisation delayed and the budget reduced by £600 million
The project’s lifetime budget was reduced by almost £630 million during the 2022/23 year.
Changing the budget from £2.6 billion to just under £2 billion, the change from amber to the red light indicates that “successful delivery of the project appears to be unachievable [and] there are major issues with project definition, schedule, budget, quality and/or benefits delivery, which at this stage do not appear to be manageable or resolvable”, according to the authority’s recently published annual report, assessing the progress of 244 government major projects.
The budget has reduced from £2.6 billion to just under £2 billion
The authority’s data says that the NHS characterises the aim of the scheme as “levelling up healthcare systems and providers to a baseline level of core digital capability… which enables frontline clinical staff to make best use of digital technology to deliver care efficiently, effectively and safely, reducing variations, and improving quality and outcomes.”
NHS trusts are struggling to make the move
The NHS milestone of 90% of trusts to make the switch to EPR by the end of 2023, with a further 5% to do so by March 2025, NHS digitisation is evidently a big ask of the healthcare sector which is already under immense strain.
With 229 trusts across the country, this implies that 10 to 12 organisations are to fail to complete the switch to NHS digitisation by the current deadline of 2025.
The IPA data said: “The Frontline Digitisation programme team is supporting each of these trusts to deliver as quickly as possible while maintaining the highest standards of patient care.
“The major projects data reveals that the NHS and the Department of Health and Social Care are currently working on “a revised business case to reflect a new programme end date of March 2026.
“The programme continues to work to the existing cost parameters, with budget being reprofiled to cover the additional year to March 2026, to ensure financial support is available when needed for trusts who are unable to deliver by March 2025.”
