The Department of Health and Social Care has published a new health in data strategy, with the ambition of delivering faster and more innovative treatment and diagnosis.
The strategy, entitled Data saves lives: reshaping health and social care with data, is said to provide an “overarching narrative and action plan to address the current cultural, behavioural and structural barriers in the system”, ultimately improving data health standards from top to bottom.
The strategy follows Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid’s four priorities for reform in the health sector: Prevention, Personalisation, Performance, and People.
It also contains a range of concrete commitments set out by Javid, including:
- Investing in secure data environments to power life-saving research and treatments.
- Using technology to allow staff to spend more quality time with patients.
- Giving people better access to their own data through shared care records and the NHS App.
The seven principles of the strategy are:
- Improving trust in the health and care system’s use of data.
- Giving health and care professionals the information they need to provide the best care.
- Improving data for adult social care.
- Supporting local decision-makers with data.
- Empowering researchers with the data they need to develop life-changing treatments and diagnostics.
- Working with partners to develop innovations that improve health and care.
- Developing the right technical infrastructure.
NHS Digital CEO Simon Bolton said: “The ‘Data saves lives’ strategy is a significant milestone in enabling us to deliver the digital transformation of the NHS, where data and technology support a health and care service fit for the future.
“Better access to data will be vital for the NHS recovery, and patient trust and confidence must be central to this. We are committed to giving patients more control and increasing transparency over how data is used to improve health and care services.”
“Our TRE is already supporting life-saving clinical research and innovation, and we are working to deliver a new and improved national TRE service with improved accessibility, and the highest standards of privacy and security.”
Digital transformation is high on the agenda at the moment, as the health sector continues to battle the aftermath of the pandemic and the backlog it has caused. This strategy is just the latest in a series of world-leading innovations tackling the problems plaguing the health industry.
If you want to learn more about digital health innovations in the NHS, you can register for our Digital Health virtual event on the 21st of July by clicking here.
