A series of plans and commitments have been set out across digital delivery, digitally-enabled primary care, and digital triage by the board of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
A delivery plan for 2026/27 promises “better use of digital and virtual tools”, a focus on digital innovation and infrastructure, and a digital-first approach to support the delivery of care closer to home. Digital access will become simpler and more joined-up, GGC states, with digital contact routes, digital records, voice tech, and Copilot-enabled productivity hoped to support improved access for patients and better information availability for staff. A sustainable blueprint is to be developed focused on delivering services in “the most optimum way”, taking a digital/virtual-first approach with an ambition of reducing costs by around five percent.
Data, digital, and analytics will help to understand population need, target interventions, and monitor impact, GGC notes, with a shift to population-based planning, and the integration of services across organisational boundaries. Building on work already completed in 2025/26, it hopes to proceed with the digitisation of legacy paper records in key services to improve information accessibility and reduce reliance on physical storage. This will not only help to ensure that important information is available at the point of care, it suggests, but should also help to reduce duplication and enhance staff productivity by removing the time-consuming process of locating and managing physical records.
The primary care programme remains “on track”, according to the board, with the continued roll out of the Vision GP IT system, and ongoing work to offer additional post-migration support to address go-live and functionality issues. A survey has been published to collect views on the use of AI in efficient care delivery, with findings to be analysed to consider further actions. 110 of 223 practices have now confirmed their data approval for the primary care information dashboard, and local work is commencing to build an outline dashboard. A board-wide digital triage pilot has begun, it shares, with the solution live across all sites, and key pathways for redirection from eTriage to FNC+ in development.
On virtual hospital, the board notes a continued focus on delivering high-volume virtual pathways in five key areas: cardiology, respiratory, paediatrics and neonatology, general surgery, and frailty. Paediatric pathways have been established for bronchiolitis and gastroenteritis, six new beds have been launched in frailty, a plan is being developed for a virtual ward (short stay) for ED, and in an analysis of Consultant Connect, a respiratory pilot and next steps for step-down care have been agreed.
In community services, digital will be used to support better care coordination and communication across teams, the board states, with priorities including an IT and digital refresh, technology-enabled care, and language translation tools. A pipeline of AI initiatives is also underway, with seven projects reportedly active, and a further 18 in scoping and development phases. Voice technologies will be scaled for use in a range of clinical settings, a digital contact centre will be established, information availability will be improved through the expansion of digital records, and workforce productivity will be supported through the automation programme with tools like Copilot.
Elsewhere, the board outlines plans for the introduction of digital dermatology for urgent skin cancer care. A digital dermatology vetting outcome will be implemented within Trakcare, it explains, taking a pilot approach to standardising guidance, improving referral data quality, and enabling internal referrals between dermatology and plastics. “The new digital pathway will strengthen clinical decision-making at the point of triage, reduce delays caused by referral loops and ensure patients requiring urgent assessment are directed to the right speciality and treated appropriately,” it continues. By March 2027, it voices hopes for this approach to have supported 95 percent of patients referred as urgent in getting a diagnosis within 31 days, fewer people waiting more than 62 days to begin cancer treatment, and all people referred with suspicion of skin cancer being on a digital pathway “from GP through to first treatment”.
Wider trend: Digital transformation in Scotland
The Scottish Government shared plans to establish a new body to drive transformation in health and care in Scotland, replacing NHS Education for Scotland and NHS National Services Scotland, and taking the lead on workforce, infrastructure, innovation, and digital transformation. A particular focus of the newly-formed organisation, to be named Public Services Delivery Scotland (PSD Scotland), will be on digital transformation, according to the government. It will also take responsibility for accelerating national programmes, continuing delivery of existing NES and NSS services, and delivering efficient, safer, and more consistent care.
A national cancer prehabilitation programme being rolled out by the Scottish government in collaboration with Macmillan Cancer Support and the Centre for Sustainable Delivery, is to use digital resources as part of support offered to patients before and during their cancer treatment. The new cancer prehabilitation screening pathway is “designed to fit around people’s lives”, the Centre for Sustainable Delivery states, delivering support at home or in the community, as well as digitally with online resources and remote support. This approach is designed to minimise unnecessary hospital visits and allow people to benefit from support provided in “familiar and convenient” settings, it adds.
The MyCare.Scot app designed to make it easier for people to access their health and social care information in one place, has gone live across Scotland. In a LinkedIn post, Mark Alan Grey, service owner at the Scottish Government, congratulated NHS colleagues and digital directorate teams, adding: “For NHS this brings a first step to allowing patients instant access to data, and in the very near future direct mail to a mailbox rather than a paper letter that could get lost, be late, and ultimately costs time and money.” Mark added: “For Scottish Government it’s the first delivery of our digital mailbox. which will also be part of a future SG App, which will allow you to view and sometimes reply to mail.”
