Digital dilemmas

Three challenges face NHS plan

AS NHS Digital expands its operations – it will anchor a new ‘government hub’ being constructed in Leeds – the opportunities are limitless as the Health Secretary prepares to deliver a major speech today.

Jeremy Hunt’s ambition should be commended. He believes all patients in England will be able to monitor their healthcare online by next year and be able to use a single app to seek advice, book a GP appointment and read their medical records. However the Minister’s mission will only command public confidence if he can provide the necessary reassurances to patients, and his many critics, in three key areas.

First, the Government cannot escape the fact that the NHS is facing a chronic shortage of doctors and nurses, and that existing GPs are struggling to provide a rudimentary outof-hours care service.

Second, the digitalisation of medical data, including confidential patient records, will be a target for computer hackers and other cyber criminals who remain out of reach of the police – how will this material be protected?

Third, Mr Hunt needs to recognise that there are many people, including those elderly patients most dependent on the NHS, who are not digitally-savvy. Others, however, live in areas not even served by basic broadband. Given the complacency of Mr Hunt’s colleague Matt Hancock when the aloof Digital Minister struggled to answer questions about the difficulties facing families and companies because of haphazard access in rural and urban blackspots alike, the Government must rigorously test its plans in order to avoid the mistakes that have haunted previous IT-led reforms.