St George’s, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and Health Group has published its digital and data strategy to 2030, covering what it refers to as “a critical point in its development as a single, integrated organisation”.
It outlines six strategic priorities, covering safe and secure digital foundations, becoming a data-driven organisation, using AI and automation to improve productivity, optimised and integrated digital systems, a connected and collaborative organisation, and a simple and accessible digital front door.
In 2025, the group moved toward integration with the wider roll out of the St George’s EPR, iClipPro, to Epsom and St Helier, but “significant work remains outstanding to standardise and optimise the system”, it states. It also notes challenges around a fragmented landscape, with more than 200 systems in use offering limited interoperability, making sharing information and coordinating care difficult. Ageing infrastructure, underutilised and fragmented data, and a history of underinvestment are also cited as issues to be addressed.
The new strategy notes that current ageing systems will be replaced with a single, modern network, with connectivity to be upgraded to help support modern clinical systems, digital diagnostics, and remote access. Staff will be provided with modern and regularly refreshed devices to enable the use of new digital and AI tools, infrastructure will be put in place to support real-time data, automation, and AI, and steps will be taken to strengthen the cyber security approach, according to GESH.
Digital workflows and automation will be used “where appropriate” to improve accuracy and productivity, with tools such as Copilot and other generative AI solutions used in drafting documents and summarising of information, the group continues. Ambient voice technology will support clinical documentation, robotic process automation will be employed to automate high-volume operational and admin tasks, and AI-enabled tools will play a role in improving patient communication and access. A Centre of Excellence for AI will be established to support product development and commercialisation.
On improving and integrating digital systems, GESH sets out ambitions for the next four years across reviewing and rationalising systems to remove duplication and consolidate where appropriate; aligning how systems are used across services to remove unnecessary variation; and optimising the shared EPR to support clinical decision making and efficient workflows. Introducing a single way for staff to access digital systems, information, and support, is intended to remove complexity and time spent navigating different systems, and the ambition is reportedly to achieve a single digital network across the organisation to support seamless access to systems and information across all sites.
For patients, the NHS App will be expanded as the main way to access services and information, with the ability to manage appointments, receive communications, and view test results. Targets outlined by GESH include having 90 percent of patient interactions taking place via the NHS App by 2029, and having 90 percent of appointments managed online by 2027, with an aim to reduce missed appointments by 30 percent.
Actions to be taken in 2026, GESH continues, cover establishing a dedicated cyber security team, improving core systems and governance, introducing AI tools to support staff with admin work, and to work on a unified data platform. In 2027, staff will benefit from a single IT network and a single digital front door, the AI Centre of Excellence will launch, and a focus will be placed on standardising processes and pathways.
By 2029, clinical systems will be fully connected with seamless information sharing across services, and data and insights will be used routinely to improve performance and patient outcomes; by 2030, advanced AI and automation will be used widely, and the group hopes to be “well placed” to adopt new technologies quickly and safely.
Wider trend: Digital strategy and transformation
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB’s Digital Inclusion Delivery Framework has outlined a “bold and unified vision” for tackling digital inclusion, based around five themes: connectivity and access to devices and data; digital accessibility and information literacy; workforce digital skills and confidence; partnerships; and digital inclusion knowledge and expertise. The ICB commits to using analytics to better understand digital inclusion barriers and gaps, both in the workforce and wider population. User-centred design and co-production will inform all digital projects to ensure accessibility and usability, and a focus will be placed on those experiencing the greatest health inequalities.
University College London Hospitals has shared a series of digital transformation plans and priorities in its five-year strategy to 2031, with plans to redesign care pathways with remote monitoring, digital tools to support care being delivered outside of hospitals, and to focus on information sharing via joined-up digital systems. UCLH highlights its work with a national initiative to integrate the Epic EHR with the NHS electronic prescription service, with an aim to create a model that other trusts will be able to replicate. Under the initiative, outpatient and some discharge prescriptions will be sent to community pharmacies to enable them to be collected locally.
Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has marked progress and ambitions around AI, EPR, robotics, and digital innovation in its latest trust strategy to 2031. The trust reports having made “significant advancements” in the use of digital technologies to improve patient care, highlighting its EPR roll out, and the roll out of robotic surgery in areas including colorectal, gynaecology, upper gastrointestinal, and general surgery. The use of AI triage and clinical prioritisation in areas such as dermatology and imaging is improving access for patients and freeing-up clinician time to focus on cases requiring further investigation, it shares. An AI steering group with Royal Surrey is also reportedly supporting collaboration around technological innovation and the use of AI in digital services.
