Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust board meeting on 6 February highlighted plans around the procurement of an EPR to replace the trust’s current system, and ongoing work around data quality.
This week the trust also announced it’s no longer in NHS oversight framework segment 4 (formerly known as special measures), following a period of sustained improvement and will now move to segment 3, mandated regional support and oversight.
For 2025/26, large scale change programmes are outlined including developing a health inequality strategy, responding to the CQC’s findings around improving quality, and continuing work to be “open and transparent partners”, strengthening partnership working at trust and locality level.
For digital, the trust’s focus is on its digital transformation programme and the delivery of its digital strategy, with an EPR procurement, adoption of AI, and strengthened cyber security noted as areas of particular focus.
The Board Assurance Framework provided an insight into one of the trust’s overarching strategic priorities around improving value, focusing on “making the best use of our resources: our digital information, our environment and our finances”. Currently assigned a high risk score, its improvement programme focuses on improving data quality; the ongoing procurement of an EPR “to address long term usability and functionality issues” affecting the trust’s current EPR and affecting data quality; and training teams in the use of PowerBI and “other data improvement and visualisation tools”.
Gaps in controls, according to the framework, are in the “lack of clinical and medical presence at key meetings” to help improve data quality, constraints associated with the trust’s current EPR, a lack of training to support data migration and adoption of a new EPR, and a need for changes in accountability and culture as “staff perception of data is a tick box exercise rather than a valuable means of supporting care”.
The framework also offered a summary of key actions, to procure an EPR system with an expected delivery date of March 2026; ongoing work with care groups on data validation; the alignment of reporting to the trust’s new data warehouse; and the revision of the data stewardship programme.
A Quality Improvement report authored by Michael Lozano, director of quality, stated that the trust had “embarked on a significant organisational and quality improvement programme” and put in place a new clinically led leadership structure to support improvements in quality and safety, as well as accountability.
Next steps for NSFT, according to the board, revolve around developing the 2025/26 improvement programme, pointing to the trust being in “a stronger position than before” due in part to its strategy for 2024-29 and key enabling strategies which set out medium-term priorities. They also cite an agreed RSP transition plan with NHSE and system partners in preparation for the move out of special measures; and “a strengthened Executive Team, with substantive appointments to key roles including CEO”.
Digital in quality improvement across the NHS
For a recent HTN Now webinar, we were joined by a panel of experts to discuss the role of digital in supporting NHS reform – modernising services, shifting from hospital to community, and supporting the move from reactive to proactive care. Panel members shared their insight and experience from a wide range of digital projects, highlighting what worked well and their learnings; how their organisations are currently tackling key challenges such as capacity and demand, and managing waiting lists; and balancing risk with innovation.
We were also joined by experts from across the primary care sector to debate how general practice, PCNs, and ICBs can utilise data and leverage technology to support operational efficiencies and improvements across primary care. Panellists included Kathryn Salt, assistant director of primary & community care, data and analytics for the Transformation Directorate, NHS England; Dr Shanker Vijayadeva, GP lead, digital transformation for the London region at NHS England; Dr Sheikh Mateen Ellahi, GP and practice partner at ELM Tree Surgery and South Stockton Primary Care Network; and Max Gattlin, digital consultant at X-on Health.
And updates from across the health system have included BSW’s publication of a digital strategy to 2028, setting out a series of digital design principles to guide a system-wide approach, highlighting priorities including efficiencies of scale, information sharing, and simplification of the digital estate. NHS Devon ICB shared an update on its Primary Care Access Recovery Plan, highlighting “good progress” on delivery, a focus on tackling variation, and a potential saving of £19 million through digital advancements; whilst Somerset ICB board has highlighted progress on its Recovering Access to Primary Care programme, noting digital progress against key deliverables ahead of the conclusion of the programme in March 2025.
