[London, UK] Will Smart, Health and Care Chief Information Officer for England, has addressed concerns that the Global Digital Exemplar (GDE) scheme will create a divide between an ‘exclusive’ suite of digitally mature NHS trusts and others that might need funding sooner to step up their game.
Concerns were raised from the supplier and provider communities that the programme could potentially hinder progress at other organisations across the country that would be unable to secure funding to improve their digital maturity unless they are a GDE or a fast follower.
“This is not an exclusive club,” Smart told delegates at the UK Health Show. “We started as an exclusive club, but we want this to be the mechanism that drives change into the frontline.”
Members of the audience asked the GDE panel, which included representatives from GDE trusts and NHS Digital’s Programme Director Alex Chaplin, to offer some reassurance for trusts referred to as ‘slow followers’ that are not part of the initiative.
“Don’t think of this as a programme with an end date, it’s a wave, it’s a phase of a long-term ambition to digitise the NHS,” added Chaplin.
The GDE blueprint remains a staple element, with Chaplin explaining it will not be only about ‘software’, but about ‘ways of working’ to create a ‘vibrant knowledge and sharing network supported by a real in-depth look at evidence’.
Place-based exemplars and digital innovation hubs
The Department of Health is expected to announce the list of place-based exemplars, although no specific details on the official timeline were offered yesterday.
“We will be looking at other ways for GDEs across other care settings. However, I think it’s really important that we recognize that this programme has particularly unique features,” added Chaplin.
Smart explained this new wave of ‘local’ exemplars will help the NHS build an infrastructure to allow sharing of information ‘outside the walls’ of a building, along with the establishment of the digital innovation hubs, an initiative recently announced by NHS England CEO Simon Stevens.
“We’re working very hard within NHS England, within the P2020 (Paperless 2020) programme, with NHS Digital colleagues to build an architecture that will allow them to move data within regional communities of two to five million (…) to make sure the data is available where it’s required, but also to understand the impact of the clinical care that we’re giving,” Smart added.
A firm plan for the initiative will be published over the next few months.
