New NHSX to drive digital transformation of NHS

The UK’s Department for Health is launching NHSX, a new unit with responsibility for setting national policy and developing best practice for NHS technology.

The UK’s Department for Health is launching NHSX, a new unit with responsibility for setting national policy and developing best practice for NHS technology. Until now, responsibility has resided across multiple agencies, teams and organisations, slowing down the implementation of new technology in the NHS: much of current NHS technology relies on systems designed for a pre-internet age.

As well as setting policy, NHSX will have oversight of technological standards to ensure interoperability across the NHS, and will reform procurement of technology to ensure standards are supported.

NHSX will work with the NHS and the wider digital economy to build world-class services, as envisioned in the NHS Long Term Plan, to improve care for patients and to enable medical research. It’s envisioned that the NHS will have a greater capability to develop its own technologies, as well as implementing third party solutions.

Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health said: “NHSX will combine some of the best minds from among the NHS, leading innovators, and government into one unit to set national policy, remove red tape and create a culture of innovation to allow the best innovations to flourish. This is just the beginning of the tech revolution, building on our Long Term Plan to create a predictive, preventative and unrivalled NHS.”