A £7 million investment over three years has been approved for Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust’s Digital, Data & Technology Strategy, identifying ten initiatives including robotic process automation, AI chatbots, and real-time dashboards, “with ROI estimated at 240 percent”. The trust also shares its medium term plan for 2026-31, highlighting digital transformation and digital tools.
The trust lists digital as an enabler in its medium term plan for the next five years, with plans to introduce RPA and automation to reduce admin burdens, AI chatbots to support patients and staff, dynamic staff scheduling and clinical utilisation tools, and cloud and network modernisation improvements. When looking at transformation for trust and neighbourhood, plans include more virtual appointments, patient-initiated follow-up via the NHS App, digital mapping of neighbourhood frailty pathways to support digital joining-up, and integration of community and acute data for prevention and early intervention.
Kingston and Richmond also looks to commercialisation, with the modernisation of infrastructure minimising operating costs, digital support for private patient services and partnerships, and automation and data to enable back-office efficiency. On system transformation, it notes integrated acute and community EPR re-procurement, SWL shared care record and cross-partner interoperability, population health analytics, predictive modelling, and AI initiatives.
For investment priorities the trust outlines its capital plan, with capital investment sought of over £40 million in 2026/27. Of this £40 million, £9.1 million is intended for digital transformation and the trust’s plans to launch RPA, AI chatbots, and dynamic staff scheduling, and to undertake network upgrades and cloud migration. £23.6 million is to be earmarked for estate maintenance, £6.3 million for patient monitoring, infusion devices, and replacement surgical kit, and £1.1 million for “invest to save” projects such as digital diagnostic appointment self-booking.
The trust also shares ongoing projects around health inequalities, with the role of digital highlighted in efforts to expand the digital accessible patient leaflet library on its website, enhance its patient portal by adding health forms including a digital triage process for pre-operative assessments, and promote digital uptake by establishing a team of volunteer digital enablers.
Wider trend: Digital strategy and transformation
Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust has published its latest digital, data and technology strategy to 2030, showing a “clear shift from traditional IT and information to a more aligned approach of digital health and data science”. Main focus areas include the consolidation of systems into a single EPR platform, the use of AI and intelligent automation, access to information and services, data science, robust and “cyber safe” infrastructure, a digital and data-driven culture, and digital inclusion.
West and North London 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.
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. Years one and two will look to develop “strong foundations”, taking a look at existing systems, standardising workflows, establishing clear governance, and assessing digital literacy.
