West and North London (WNL) ICB has shared its strategy development, covering plans for digital-first and community pathways, digital infrastructure, interoperability and real-time data, and integrated teams.
A joint ICT merger delivery group has been established across the two ICBs, and is said to already be making “positive progress” through December and January. Aims are to enable the sharing of files seamlessly across the ICBs, enabling collaborative work on projects, and forming a single email domain. The team will be working to enable all staff to work from any location across the two sites, and to “run future IT procurement strategically, with a view to standardising contracts as and when the existing contracts expire”. Both ICBs are now reported to be undertaking the Data Security Protection Toolkit process early, to ensure data security.
The ICB plans to develop its digital infrastructure through a focus on improving interoperability, real-time information sharing, analytics and population health capabilities with the integration of a wide range of data sources, and an investment in analytics skills for non-analysts to promote data-driven decision making across the system. In tackling fragmented systems and poor interoperability, which it notes can limit information sharing and integrated working, the ICB makes a commitment to investing in interoperable systems, real-time analytics, and population health capability, aligned to the London Secure Data Environment.
Three critical steps are outlined within the ICB’s approach: work to understand risk in communities and to take a proactive and preventative approach to designing services; prioritising population cohorts with “high utilisation but poor outcomes or poor value”; and using a “should-cost” analysis to model what a pathway “should-cost” if it were designed around best practice, digital triage, and optimised flows. Underpinning these steps are two enablers, the ICB continues, including digital infrastructure for triage, risk stratification, and information sharing between providers; and patient activation, to support patients in engaging on their own health and self-management.
Planned care will be transformed with the use of digital and community-first pathways, WNL explains, using digital triage and community-first models to help ensure patients are seen in the right place, first time. The NHS App and digital tools will be used to support patients in self-management, referral support and communication will be standardised, and neighbourhood teams will be integrated for ongoing support.
WNL highlights a number of specialties it intends to target in the first instance, including a digital pathway for dermatology and children’s and young people’s mental health and ADHD assessment, and a community-first approach to ENT, gynaecology, and musculoskeletal services.
Wider trend: Digital transformation in London
London Ambulance Service NHS Trust has shared outcomes from AI pilots including ambient voice and AI training simulation for staff, along with future ambitions for digital and data, and planned collaborations with the Southern Ambulance Services Collaboration on shared infrastructure, cyber security, and more.
East London NHS Foundation Trust has outlined its use of data in informing patient care and patient flow, deploying digital screens, interactive dashboards, and PowerBI. 22 wards across the trust now have digital screens showcasing real-time data on aspects of flow, safety, care plans, observation status, Mental Health Act status, key assessments, and expected discharge date. Co-designed with clinicians and service users, the screens update every 15 minutes, supporting safety huddles, team meetings, and handovers.
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust board has noted plans to introduce an emergency department digital front door and has highlighted how digital is supporting patient flow initiatives. In September A&E four-hour performance fell below the 78 percent target, with the trust sharing that a “high number” of patients could not be discharged promptly when no longer requiring hospital care, committing to working with community partners to address this with improved discharge pathways and increased virtual wards capacity. As part of work to address this challenge, the trust also plans to rollout an ED digital front door, offering automatic data transfer from the ambulance service to provide clinicians with faster access to patient information.
West London NHS Trust’s latest digital strategy for 2025 – 2030 has been submitted for board approval, centred around six pillars, to cover robust infrastructure, cyber, systems optimisation, data and insights, AI and innovation, and empowering people. Estimated capital investment for the delivery of the digital strategy is £29 million, to be phased over five years, with “clear milestones and benefits realisation targets”. A digital PMO and programme boards will oversee each pillar.
