Funds for NHS’s digital revamp ‘inadequate’
RECENT INVESTMENT in the digital transformation of the NHS has been “inadequate”, according to a report from the National Audit Office (NAO).
Digital transformation involves updating existing IT and digital services to improve how staff within the NHS are able to work as well as make such systems more secure.
The public spending watchdog’s report, which was prepared before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, said a “better understanding” of the required investment in the NHS was needed to help improve its digital infrastructure.
The report says the NHS has acknowledged that the Government’s current committed £4.7bn investment between 2016 and 2021 as part of its Digital Transformation Portfolio is not enough to achieve its goals. It says NHS England and NHS Improvement
have estimated that up to £8.1bn will be needed between 2019-20 and 2023-24 to reach those goals, which also includes £3bn invested by trusts between 2019-20 and 2028-29.
But the report indicates that these estimates are based on limited data and it is uncertain if even that level of funding would be sufficient, and there is a risk trusts would be unwilling or unable to fund the £3bn needed from them. The report acknowledged that improving digital services across the NHS was a complex issue, but more needed to be done.
The NAO report also indicated that spending on IT and technology at NHS and foundation trusts was collectively around two per cent of expenditure, compared with a recommended five per cent.
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said: “The track record for digital transformation in the NHS has been poor, with key targets such as a ‘paperless’ NHS by 2018 not being achieved.
“Local NHS organisations in particular face significant challenges, including outdated IT systems and competing demands on their resources.”
MP Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee, warned that the health service’s continued reliance on older IT systems also made it vulnerable to a cyber-attack similar to the WannaCry incident in 2017, which led to widespread disruption across the NHS.