As part of our exploration of the current digital and data landscape in the North West region, we reached out to ICSs and trusts for any insights they would like to share about existing projects and priorities for the next six to twelve months.

In a response to this call for comment, West Herts Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust shared that their priorities for the coming months include developing the trust’s integrated EPR system to support the delivery of safe and efficient care, aligning digital work with the trust’s acute redevelopment programme as it works towards planning, designing and building its new digital hospital, and continuing to digitally support and empower patients through initiatives such as its patient portal, which has received more than 70,000 sign-ups since its launch in early 2023.

Reflecting on digital projects from the past year, the trust highlights its status as “one of the most advanced robotic centres in Europe”, offering tech that could “soon allow cancer patients to go home within 24 hours of an operation”, as well as reducing post operative hospital stays through less invasive surgical procedures. Recovery in some cases, the trust continues, can be monitored through its virtual hospital, allowing patients to be cared for from the comfort of their own home “using specialist tech and the support of experts, who can track key health metrics remotely or in person when needed”. The trust shared that between April 2023 and February 2024, “in collaboration with West Herts’ delivery partner Central London Community Healthcare Trust, 5,000 patients were treated via the virtual hospital, saving an estimated 4,500 bed days and scoring on average 9/10 on patient experience questionnaires”.

Finally, looking ahead to the next 12 months, West Herts noted that the development of the trust’s Control Centre at Watford General Hospital is increasingly allowing a response in real-time to pressures across the local health and care system, and ensuring that patients are seen quickly “by the most appropriate professional to meet their needs”. Maximising the use of data and digital technology within the design of West Herts hospitals is also a key consideration of the acute hospital redevelopment programme.

We recently sat down with Kate Warriner, chief digital and transformation officer at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Trust and chief digital and information officer at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, who shared insights on current projects and digital priorities across both organisations. Kate highlighted that Liverpool Heart and Chest has recently achieved HIMMS Level 7, following the same achievement at Alder Hey three years ago, saying, “there were some fantastic things that came out of that with some of the technologies that we put in place, particularly from a safety point of view; and also on how we use our data in terms of looking at our services and looking at how we can improve”. She also noted the development of the healthy lung project around the early detection of lung cancer, with technology “playing a big part”. For Alder Hey, Kate also discussed achievements including a “major overhaul” of the trust’s EPR and the refresh of the trust’s strategy, with a roadmap to 2030, saying, “digital and technology cuts through all of that like a stick of rock”.

Around digital priorities for the next 12 months, Kate highlighted the importance of ensuring that the basics remain in place whilst also pushing forward with the technology agenda, in terms of new developments such as generative AI, saying, “we’re excited about some of the possibilities that can help with transforming some of the services that we are delivering in both organisations”. She also shared that data will be a big focus for the next 12 months at both organisations, building on existing capabilities in terms of things like Power BI and real-time dashboards to enable staff to see key performance metrics such as the number of patients waiting, adding, “we want to see how we can make the most of our data, using it even more than we already do, not only to give us insights into operational service delivery, but also to take our services into the future”.

We also spoke to Natalie Hayes, CNIO at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, about digital projects, priorities, and challenges. Natalie discussed how much of her role for the last 12 months has been around aligning systems following a recent merge, the roll-out of the Narrative document management system across three of the trust’s five sites, and the ongoing procurement of a new EPR system. She also noted the trust’s upcoming digital strategy, which focuses on user-centred design, and the development of a new patient portal.

For the upcoming 12 months, Natalie shared how she and her team will be focusing on ensuring that all sites are digitally aligned, as although they are currently using the same supplier, System C, they are “currently at different levels of digital maturity, and using the systems in different ways”. The trust will also be launching a new digital strategy with a key focus on levelling up digital maturity on an equal basis across all trust sites. Natalie said, “we need to establish a safe clinical safety process – something that was in place at one of the legacy sites, but not the other. I have been lucky enough to set this up from scratch at one organisation and look forward to doing it again, making sure that clinical safety is all documented and that both the structure and governance is in place.”