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.
“Over time, teams have developed local ways of working that can create unnecessary variation for patients and staff,” the trust indicates. “Introducing more consistent processes will help us adopt new technologies more quickly and effectively.” Staff are generally willing to embrace innovation, it continues, but a clearer and more structured framework is required to help support and scale implementation. Over the next five years, a single framework for implementing and improving best practice pathways and processes will be introduced, digital tools will be embedded to support decision-making, and automation will be used where appropriate.
The creation of a single point of access for patient enquiries will mean calls being routed through a contact hub that can initially offer help with queries about appointments, test results, and more, according to UCLH. This communication will be fed into the EHR. The MyCare patient portal will be more closely integrated with the NHS App with the ambition of promoting patient involvement and a focus will be placed on building stronger population health data and analytics to support new models of care and help reduce health inequalities.
Contracts have been signed for a single PACS system for North Central London to allow easier sharing of images between organisations, UCLH notes, with work having begun on roll out. A new programme, OneLondon2, has been established to build on work to securely use health data to improve care across the capital, with plans to use existing tools like the London Care Record and Universal Care Plan, as well as secure data systems to support planning and health improvements for the wider population.
Other new developments cover the introduction of Fast Pass to enable patients to book appointments that become free at short notice through the MyCare UCLH online portal; the completed roll out of fully digital tissue pathology; and improvements to how data and reports are used in Epic to allow staff to see the information they need without having to open other tools like Power BI.
A “major Epic system upgrade took place in May 2026” which added a large number of new features, and plans are to bring in the Cheers module to improve how patients are managed at first contact. UCLH is now registered for the Epic Developer Module that approves third-party AI algorithms to be integrated into Epic workflows, and is exploring a new Epic tool for agentic AI.
The trust also offers updates on programmes such as Scan 4 Safety, where a pilot and improvement work for adoption in urology is progressing “slowly”, and dependent factors have been identified including a plan for a new inventory management system and how it connects with EHR, maintenance of barcode data/implant catalogue into EHR, and EHR reports to support improvements by monitoring scanning adoption. eConsent has been implemented in all surgical areas offering a “considerable” reduction in the need to scan paper consent forms, and next steps will be rolling out to non-surgical areas with endoscopy, interventional radiology, and systemic anti-cancer therapy expected to go live in Q1 2027.
Wider trend: Digital transformation in NHS trusts
Dorset County Hospital and Dorset HealthCare have updated on digital progress and priorities for 2026/27, highlighting ongoing work on EHR implementation, primary care integration, infrastructure improvements, and a target operating model. “Good progress” is being made on EHR implementation, with the trusts citing strong recruitment and alignment of system workstreams. Primary care integration is reportedly underway, and overall delivery is rated “on track”. Work is continuing on the trust’s target operating model and leadership structure, and the board offered assurance on improvements to system capability and infrastructure, plans to enhance access and user experience, and legacy issues.
Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust board has highlighted digital in supporting its stroke recovery programme, recent EPR upgrades, progress with ambient voice technology, and a need for the trust to modernise systems going forward. The digital stroke recovery programme is in place as a result of a partnership with iCareiMove, the trust shares. The 12-week programme, ReNeu, is designed to support people in the weeks following a stroke diagnosis, to bring together NHS physiotherapy and “evidence-informed digital delivery”, with live sessions, peer support, and learning resources. Due to its digital delivery model, the trust hopes it will improve accessibility for those experiencing barriers to traditional stroke care.
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust has published its quality account for 2025/26, outlining successes over the last 12 months including its EPR programme. “Significant progress” has been made over 2025/26 in delivering the trust’s digital programme in support of safer, more efficient, and more integrated care, University Hospitals Plymouth states, with the formal award of an EPR contract to Epic as part of the One Devon EPR programme. The implementation phase remains ongoing, it continues, with a planned go-live scheduled for July 2026 following a successful go-live at Torbay Hospital in April.
