NHS England’s board met last week to discuss data insights into the health system’s performance, the implications for digital with regards to the financial state of the NHS, how technology relates to productivity, and more.
Key statistics were shared at the board meeting, including a largely consistent rate of A&E patients admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours (74.6 percent, in comparison to 74 percent in May this year and 73.4 percent in June 2023). As of the end of May, there were 7.61 million waits for procedures and appointments recorded, with 55,955 people waiting more than 65 weeks for treatment; this has risen from a reported 48,968 people waiting over 65 weeks at the end of March, though it marks a significant drop from May 2023’s figure of 96,802. A reduction in the longest waits for care was also reported, from over 11,000 in May 2023 to 4,597 in May 2024.
Looking at cancer care in particular, the board heard that a “new record high” has been achieved of 12,695 patients seen per working day, with 33 percent more referrals than the NHS saw before the pandemic. The increase in referrals has “contributed to increases in early diagnosis” according to the statistics, with early diagnosis now around two percentage points higher than the pre-pandemic figures. The board also emphasised that further improvement in early cancer diagnosis is a “major priority”, and highlights a need to modernise diagnostic and treatment capacity to improve timeliness of treatment and maximise productivity. This will include focus on digitisation and utilisation of artificial intelligence to increase efficiencies, as well as investment in technologies to help improve productivity.
Building on that point, NHSE states that accelerating the take-up of innovation “will also be core to our approach”, highlighting innovations already receiving funding through the NHS Cancer Programme’s open call, including an AI used to diagnose or rule out skin cancers and an adapter capable of turning an iPhone into “diagnostic equipment” for head and neck cancers.
On data around mental health care, NHS England plans to publish the full community mental health metrics in autumn this year; the board expects a focus on data quality improvement across 2024/25 to enable “more accurate” data from April 2025 onwards.
The board examined data from primary care, noting that “all actions from the first year of the [primary care access recovery plan] have been delivered”, including 90 percent of practices enabling patients to see records, send messages, book appointments and order prescriptions using the NHS App. Regarding ambitions set out in the second year of the plan, NHSE reported that half of GP practices are using the online registration system as of June this year, with over four million repeat prescriptions ordered and 18.6 million record views reported via the NHS App in May 2024.
For children and young people, NHSE noted that the over 2,500 children have started to receive treatment in the Complications of Excess Weight (CEW) clinics, with plans for the clinics to continue expansion in 2024/25; a key aim here is to utilise medical technology to provide support beyond the walls of the clinics.
With regards to financial performance over the 2023/24 fiscal year, the board stated that the NHS has “delivered financial balance in aggregate through a real terms reduction in spend while delivering substantial operational and transformational improvements across the NHS”. Discussion took place around the reprioritisation of spend in-year, particularly the reduced investment in digital infrastructure and technology. Whilst overall investment has reduced, the board deemed that progress has continued around the long-term digital and data ambitions within the NHS, noting in particular progress around the federated data platform, NHS App and clinical innovations designed to improve care outcomes and quality.
With the conversation moving on to NHS productivity, the board highlighted that a productivity plan is in development and will focus on “programmes of continuous improvement, value-based healthcare, identifying and reducing waste and removing barriers to enable people to do the best job that they can”. Discussion took in the “criticality of technology investment to deliver the required productivity growth across the NHS”, pointing to improvements in productivity already demonstrated through the repeat prescriptions function in the NHS App along with electronic patient records.
The role of data was noted in work around seasonal vaccinations, with the board stating that work in this area “has been informed by extensive quantitative and qualitative data insight, including on communications that resonate with the public”. The board heard how more than two million people overall have been identified, contacted and encouraged to book a missed MMR vaccine, indicating “a big leap forward in how we use data to create a more targeted offer of vaccination to underserved communities”.
On NHSE’s work around healthcare inequalities, the board heard about the development of a set of resources designed to guide system action on strategic priorities in this area, including the publication of ‘Inclusive digital healthcare: a framework for NHS action on digital inclusion’. Looking to the future, the Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme aims to mobilise three to four digital inclusion accelerator sites, and embed the framework for action on digital inclusion.
In terms of NHSE workforce, Dr Brian Saunders has been appointed as chair of the cyber security and risk committee and also non-executive committee member of the data, digital and technology committee.
The board papers can be found in full here.
NHS England in the spotlight
Yesterday we highlighted a pre-procurement notice from NHSE, for a digital weight management programme worth an estimated £23 million intended to deliver a behavioural lifestyle intervention over a 12-week period for people living with obesity.
Over the past week, HTN also examined new clinical guidance from NHSE on principles around the automation of test result release in patient engagement portals, along with requirements around portal functionality. Other guidance recently published focuses on primary care, aiming to help general practice teams to use data in understanding and managing variations in demand and capacity.
Earlier in the month, we reported on the clinical impact of the Synnovis cyber attack in South East London, sharing figures from NHSE here.
Other news from NHSE includes an update around the new GP Connect Update Record functionality; a proposed new route for MedTech developers to access NHS funding; and a progress update on NHS England’s Cancer Programme.
Finally, May saw HTN interview Henrietta Mbeah-Bankas, head of portfolio at NHSE, to hear about progress made in upskilling and digital access over the last year, the projects she is most excited about, and her hopes for the future.
