Many NHS trusts lacking a digital transformation strategy

New research from SolarWinds has revealed that two-fifths of NHS trusts either have no digital transformation strategy or have only just begun to work on one.

Almost four years after the publication of the NHS Five Year Forward View, which provided NHS trusts with a plan of how the health service needs to adapt over the next five years, the SolarWinds survey has shown that 17 per cent of responding NHS trusts and Clinical Commissioning Groups have no digital transformation strategy in place, with 24 per cent having only just started to develop a strategy.

Based on the responses of 102 IT managers at NHS trusts and CCGs, the survey also showed that 47 per cent of respondents think that the achievability of some initiatives and directives around digital transformation, like the paperless target, are unachievable for the wider NHS and that 29 per cent view legacy technology as a significant barrier for their organisation for security, efficiency, and service delivery.

Paul Parker, chief technologist of federal and national government, SolarWinds, Said: “The NHS has so far relied on proven technology when it comes to their infrastructure. With the survey revealing that nearly a fifth of trusts haven’t begun their digital transformation at all, it is evident that implementing new strategies is not considered a simple, or necessary, process. This, however, should be the role of the IT teams within the healthcare industry—to integrate the most efficient technology solutions that then enable the medical staff to do their jobs.

“Public cloud, for example, could—and should—be adopted to improve data storage and accessibility, while allowing for ease of implementing cybersecurity measures, thereby meeting the suggestions of the government’s digital transformation programme. This transition will also be eased from the use of monitoring and management tools that work across both new technologies, like cloud, and legacy environment infrastructure. Tools like this provide visibility into performance and efficiency, which will ease any anxiety about the transition and the continuation of services.”