A new trust strategy from University Hospitals Sussex (UHS) has outlined “ambitious plans to deliver big changes” over the next five years, outlining a £100 million digital transformation, £350 million in investment in clinical services, better facilities and systems, and increased use of robotic surgery and AI.
Roxanne Smith, the trust’s chief strategy officer, called the strategy a “comprehensive response to a period of significant change, driven both by new NHS priorities and the evolving needs of our aging population”. Roxanne added: “Excellent Care Everywhere is the way we will think, organise, and work differently to unlock the immense potential of our 17,800 staff, seven hospitals, and our budget of more than £1.5 billion. We will be investing heavily in new infrastructure, digital platforms, state-of-the-art equipment, and comprehensive staff training to ensure we provide the excellent and consistent care that every patient deserves.”
More details of UHS’s plans for moving from analogue to digital are shared within the strategy, noting: “Currently, UHSussex is one of the few NHS trusts without a single electronic patient record, and many services still rely on paper or disconnected and outdated systems,” it states. A new trust-wide EPR is therefore to be launched by 2027 to unify digital systems and improve care, providing staff with better access to information and reducing paperwork.
The trust also makes commitments to carrying out more robot-assisted surgery, building on its “success” at Princess Royal Hospital by introducing the tech to Worthing Hospital in 2026 to improve patient recovery and “attract and retain top surgical talent”. AI use will be expanded across imaging and clinical pathways to improve diagnostics, and a new Sussex-wide Laboratory Information Management System will be implemented with the aim of improving consistency and reducing turnaround times.
Paper-based processes will be replaced by electronic communications for patients, with the NHS App to become the trust’s main contact point by 2028. Work to enhance cyber security and resilience will focus on upgrading digital security infrastructure, network segmentation for medical devices, preparedness, and staff training.
“We will ensure our digital changes are inclusive by providing digital skills training for staff and patients,” UHS states. “We will also collaborate with community partners to address barriers and co-design new systems with users to ensure no one is left behind as we adopt new technologies.”
To support the launch of the strategy, the trust shared an overview video:
Wider trend: digital transformation in health and care
In a recent HTN Now webinar, we were joined by Neill Crump, digital strategy director at Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust; Ananya Datta, associate director of primary care digital delivery at South East London ICS; and John Kosobucki, CEO of OX.DH. In the session, we discussed how health and care can tackle challenges around interoperability, looking at the key steps that can be taken to make progress in this area. Our expert panellists shared details about their own projects and programmes, providing insights into strategy, approaches and potential improvements that can be made.
NHS England has published its medium term planning framework to outline the priority deliverables ICBs and providers should focus on for the next three-to-five years. The framework sets out a new operating model, a revised foundation trust model, the creation of integrated health organisations, changes to the financial framework, and opportunities for greater local autonomy through a neighbourhood health approach.
York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust board of directors have highlighted its Nervecentre EPR programme and future digital plans for 2026 onwards. Go-live of the first tranche of the EPR programme covers observations, clinical documentation for inpatients, urgent and emergency care, ePMA, bed management, and read-only diagnostic results, and is expected to take place at the end of Q1 2026. User acceptance testing is underway with members of the clinical digital team, with plans to expand this to more users from November onwards.
