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.
“Digital transformation will act as a key enabler of the trust’s wider strategic priorities, supporting the delivery of prevention-focused, community-based and integrated models of care,” the board states. “Our approach is phased, clinically led and inclusive, ensuring that digital innovation supports, not replaces, personalised care, and that no one is excluded as services increasingly adopt digital-first approaches.”
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.
Another area of focus will be the development of a single patient record and digital front door, with the trust looking to expand digital engagement via the NHS App and its patient portal. Priority pathways will be digitised to help support access and productivity, with the neurodevelopmental pathway and Mental Health Act pathway further digitised in line with pilot activity carried out by the trust to improve oversight and compliance.
Further, North Staffordshire commits to building on its reported success with the delivery of tools like the Patchs AI dictation and triage tool to inform future implementations and rollouts of other digital solutions. Trust-wide productivity tools including AI transcription and workflow automation will be deployed to help achieve operational efficiencies, and the trust will continue to work on network modernisation, cloud adoption, and tools supporting collaboration across the organisation and wider system.
Wider trend: Strategy and future outlook from across the NHS
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.
At its latest meeting, the board of London Ambulance Service shared updates on a range of digital and data programmes underway across the trust, looking at patient outcomes, core infrastructure modernisation, AI and automation, ePCR, and ambient voice technology. A key strategic highlight offered by the board is the transition of the My Clinical Feedback digital product, co-designed by the trust to allow paramedics to receive structured feedback on patient outcomes following conveyance, into a national Federated Data Platform product. The trust has led on successful implementation across London, and will continue to act as the national reference site during national rollout in 2026/27.
The board of Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust (MYTT) has shared a series of updates around digital, including on AI, automation, and its EPR, alongside the approval of its latest digital, data, and technology strategy to 2030. Focus areas for the next five years include the consolidation of systems into a single EPR platform, the use of AI and automation, the development of a digital front door, data science, cyber-safe infrastructure, a digital- and data-driven culture, and digital inclusion.
