Cheshire and Merseyside ICB has outlined a range of digital plans and priorities to 2031 in its five-year clinical and strategic commissioning plan, also incorporating system ambitions for population health improvement, and advising of a £29.6 million transformation fund for 2026-27.
The ICB commits to a single multi-year digital investment model incorporating provider organisations, primary care, and wider system stakeholders as a single enterprise. Other plans include the delivery of digital tools to support clinical workflows, improve operational productivity and empower patients; the use of data-driven intelligence to inform clinical decisions and improve outcomes; embracing AI to “radically transform” how the system operates; and establishing a digital centre of excellence to coordinate innovation and horizon scanning.
The ICB discusses how it will build on its digital and data ambitions of strong foundations, and “at scale” digital and data platforms, tools, and services. This will reportedly involve ensuring all providers meet agreed baseline standards for digital capability, harmonising digital systems and infrastructure with shared architecture, rapidly implementing new digital technology, and building a system-wide digital workforce including pooled specialist expertise where required.
Estates upgrades will integrate smart tech to reduce administrative burden and promote self-management, the ICB states, with a single source of estates data to be delivered to support wider medium-to-long-term population health management objectives and improve operational efficiency. Resources will be shifted toward prevention and proactive care with a £29.6 million transformation fund for 2026-27 that the ICB reports will rise in future years.
Neighbourhood teams will be commissioned to use population health management tools to deliver proactive support and personalised care, the ICB highlights, with a shared care neighbourhood-based prescribing service to reduce unnecessary outpatient attendances. The ICB moves on to talk about digital as an enabler of safe and efficient care through digital pathways, enhanced access, tools for diagnostics, and remote support.
Detailed plans for EPR and digital and data service consolidation are discussed in the Cheshire and Merseyside population health improvement plan, with actions for 2026-27 being the Liverpool University Hospitals EPR build and implementation, EPR procurements and business cases, a CSU exit plan, a general practice IT strategy, data strategy, and cyber plan.
2027-28 will look to a range of EPR builds and implementations, as well as a review of shared service desk options, the migration of CSU services to shared models, and the implementation of “rationalised” GP IT infrastructure. The MWL and W&H EPR go-live is scheduled for 2029, with the digital centre of excellence also to be launched, and the rollout of a digital workforce development programme set to take place. For years 2030-31 and beyond, the ICB will be looking to maintain continuous improvement and annual strategy refresh within digital and data services.
The ICB also outlines how it will work to deploy “at scale” digital and data platforms, tools, and services. In 2026-27, it commits to agreeing system priorities for the Federated Data Platform, mobilising ambient voice across all providers, undertaking an agentic AI pilot in elective care, deploying AI in clinical networks including radiology, confirming “high priority” use cases for the shared care record, and confirming requirements for an “at scale” neighbourhood health platform.
In the period from 2027-29, ambitions include completing the onboarding of FDP core products and developing FDP as a strategic commissioning tool, deploying a “long term” ambient voice solution, continuing the rollout of AI, maximising shared care record adoption, reviewing shared care record strategy and approach in line with national Single Patient Record plans, and rolling out the single “at scale” platform for neighbourhood health. 2030-2031 and beyond will then see the ICB looking to embed advanced analytical research capabilities into the FDP, migrate to the national Single Patient Record, and promote continuous improvement and annual strategy refresh.
Wider trend: Strategy and future plans
A medium term plan for North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust has shared details of digital plans and priorities for the next five years, with focuses on the shift from analogue to digital, and ambitions for EPR transformation, single patient record, digitising pathways, and scaling digital innovation. On EPR transformation, the trust refers to the scheduled go-live of the ORBIS U EPR in 2026/27, and ambitions to build on this with the wider adoption and embedding of digital solutions supporting productivity, safety, and clinical decision-making. Tools such as ambient voice technology that are already in use at the trust will also be scaled.
In a strategic case for the merger of Cambridgeshire Community Services (CCS) and Norfolk Community Health and Care (NCHC) trusts, plans for digital and data integration and the anticipated benefits of combined digital capabilities, have been outlined. “The success of the proposed merger and delivery of the expected benefits depends in large measure on getting digital and data integration right,” the boards consider. A new CIO has been recruited to help bring together the two trust’s digital teams, with the boards committing to a “digital-first” approach to improving quality of care, safety, and financial efficiency. Clinical aims will be supported by digital and technology, including remote monitoring of long-term conditions, virtual clinic appointments, and virtual wards.
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust have published a joint Digital and Data Strategy for 2026 – 2031, aiming to transform the model for mental health, learning disabilities and autism, and to introduce a new operating model underpinned by digital and data. An interoperable EPR, a digital front door, the use of AI and automation, modern data platforms, remote monitoring, NHS App use, regional data interoperability, and the decommissioning of legacy systems, are all key objectives aligning with the wider Greater Manchester ICB Digital Transformation Strategy, the trusts state.
