Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has outlined five priority transformation programmes to progress in 2026/27, covering digitally enabled flow, ambient voice technology, booking optimisation, and pathway redesign.
AVT is currently being piloted by 90 clinicians, CUH notes, with wider implementation planned to start in October, beginning with outpatient access and productivity in the initial phases.
On digitally enabled flow, the trust states that 13 front door, admission, and discharge pilots have been underway since June, with a pending evaluation to inform future plans. A new planning and care tool has been launched to help align consultant capacity with demand and planned activity.
Digitally enabled pathway pilots are beginning this month as part of the Get It Right First Time (GIRFT) Further Faster specialties, CUH shares. Booking optimisation templates are live in 72 specialties, and 50.82 percent of clinics are offering self-scheduling or earlier appointment offers. So far, over 43,000 patients have reportedly self-scheduled, and the remaining specialties are to go live on 21 September.
The trust also shares updates on wider digital programmes and priorities, highlighting that the first phase of its Epic integrated patient communications platform is now live, including waitlist validation functionality, video appointment links, and early appointment offers. The pilot will look at impact on patient communication and reduced appointment admin workload prior to making a decision on wider use, it adds.
Epic Care Link is also being used to expand shared care across organisations, with CUH stating that access has now been configured for the CUH-Royal Papworth joint oncology service as part of wider ambitions for an integrated EPR across the biomedical campus.
Wider trend: NHS trust digital transformation
Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust has outlined its intention to prioritise five initial ideas to pilot under its Transform, Improve, Maximise, and Enable (TIME) digital innovation programme. The three-year programme has an aim to save colleagues time and release more time for patient care by making use of digital technologies including AI and automation, according to the trust. As part of this, colleagues across the trust are also being trained in the use of Copilot.
Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust has shared plans around generative AI, ambient voice technology, automation and digital recruitment as part of its latest board meeting. The trust is launching its strategy to 2031, with headline ambitions to use digital and data routinely in improving decision making, productivity, and care delivery. Colleagues will have the technology and digital tools required to perform their role effectively, and access to the information and data necessary to make informed decisions about the services they are providing, it states.
South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAMB) NHS Foundation Trust has shared insights and upcoming milestones from its digital transformation programme, noting details of work around data, AI, and auto-dispatch. The service sets out a series of priority workstreams for clinical productivity, including auto-allocation of calls (hear & treat), with emergency operations centre roll out in Q1 2026/27; automation of its emergency crew advice line process with go-live expected by the end of Q3 2026/27; and ongoing work to optimise EPR information flows. Automation of clinical audit is currently being scoped, with plans for delivery in Q3 2026/27.
