The 2026/27 digital workplan for University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust has been published noting the appetite for AI with the challenge of safe implementation, setting an aim for “rapid progress” to be made.
Most digital programmes are on track, the trust notes, with there being a “technical change freeze” over the last six months as focus has been on ensuring the smooth go-live of the trust’s EPR and Sussex Pathology Network solutions including LIMS and order comms early in 2027.
On AI, a framework has been developed for the roll out of AI and the governance in place to support it, with an AI governance group formed, and a draft AI policy developed for approval. The board states, however, that there is “tension between significant appetite for AI productivity and efficiency and the limited central bandwidth to enable their safe implementation”, adding: “The importance of rapid progress was emphasised, which would require leveraging of learning from early adoption elsewhere where this can expedite. A report to support a discussion on risk appetite and the speed and scale of adoption has been asked to be brought back to the next meeting.”
The Brainomix digital imaging platform was highlighted in helping to promote rapid specialist decision-making and access to 24/7 stroke expertise, the trust goes on, enabling early testing of out-of-hospital assessment by ambulance crews to support a more streamlined stroke pathway. Data centre resilience has been enhanced, and active directory work has begun, it explains, although noting that this remains a “complex exercise”.
In terms of patient communications, the update shares that digital post exceeded physical post for the first time in March 2026, with patient use of digital letters having increased from 20 percent at the start of the project to 68 percent. Improvement work will be aimed at streamlining access for patients to digital solutions whilst keeping alternative arrangements in place for patients to prevent digital exclusion.
Also included in the board’s update is insight into clinical research development, with “strong performance” from the Commercial Research Delivery Centre. “Digital opportunities are being harnessed to look across organisations in Sussex to make the most of the digital infrastructure and how portfolio maps to disease prevalence,” it states. “There had been identification of recognising research opportunities that extending use of Sussex private providers in research pathways (e.g. diagnostics) could bring while some barriers exist.”
Other digital priorities are shared within the trust’s newly published green plan for 2026-2030, which focuses on embedding digital sustainability considerations as part of procurement and system design processes, rolling out digital tools reducing the need for travel or streamlining clinical pathways, and investigating the move from on-site data centres and servers to the cloud.
The digitisation of legacy paper records is being explored, and collaboration will take place with teams in areas with high paper usage to discuss how to limit this moving forward. Key commitments include maximising the benefits of digital initiatives such as EPR and EDMS to reduce emissions and improve patient care, and exploring the opportunities for moving data centres and servers to the cloud by 2027.
Wider trend: Insights on AI and AVT
HTN was joined for a deep dive into AI strategy, implementation, adoption, and opportunities by Neill Crump, group associate director of innovation & partnerships at The Dudley Group and Sandwell and West Birmingham, and Pip Hodgson, group digital transformation specialist at University Hospitals of Leicester and Northamptonshire. Our panel discussed their organisation’s approaches to AI and AI strategy, best practices in AI strategy development, Ambient Voice Technology and successful implementation, and the opportunities likely to be ahead with the next wave of AI.
In another session, HTN was joined by a panel including Ciara Moore, EPR operations director at Bath, Salisbury and Great Western Group, Stuart Cooney, CTO at Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, and Julian Wiggins, healthcare solution director at Rackspace Technology, for a discussion focusing on cloud adoption, AI maturity, and cyber resilience. Panellists explored how healthcare organisations are tackling delivery, legacy systems, and rising digital expectations, and what this means for future strategy and plans. We also looked at the fragmented cloud landscape, integration pressures, legacy infrastructure, AI, and the growing urgency around cyber resilience, finishing by asking where NHS leaders should prioritise investment and focus in 2026.
And HTN was joined for a deep dive into ambient voice technology by a panel including Wahida Jabarzai, clinical AI and automation delivery lead at University Hospitals of Northamptonshire and University Hospitals of Leicester; and Ravinder Kaur Sahota, group CIO at The Dudley Group and Sandwell and West Birmingham. Our panel shared their learnings, experiences, and insights from AVT projects, covering clinical impact, risks, coding, governance, regulation, assurance, through to implementation, value, benefits realisation, and sustainability.
