NHS IT ops, orgs and IT policy

• price EPS prescriptions;
• lead the Real Time Exemption Checking (RTEC) project;
• provide the Manage Your Service (MYS) application;
• provide the Information Services Portal (ISP) application; and
• publish statistics.

NHS England leads the National Health Service (NHS) in England. Working with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), it sets the priorities and direction of the NHS to improve health and care. NHS Digital and NHSX were incorporated into NHS England.

NHSE local teams: May be involved with some local IT matters e.g. the completion of the Data Security and Protection Toolkit by pharmacy contractors. NHSE have published a list of local NHSE teams with contact details.

Data saves lives (2021)

Integration and Innovation (2021).

The future of healthcare (2018).

Power of information (2012).

Data saves lives (“reshaping health and social care with data”): These policy proposals set out how to better use data across the health and care system. Community Pharmacy England has summarised the propoals into a one-page briefing factsheet.

Integration and Innovation (“working together to improve health and social care for all”): This included DHSC’s legislative proposals for a Health and Care Bill. This recognised the value with broad “duty to collaborate” across the health and care system and ICSs” and a plan to “legislate to ensure more effective data sharing across the health and care system, which is critical to effective integration, and will enable the digital transformation of care pathways”

The future of healthcare (“our vision for digital, data and technology in health and care”) This set out the Government’s ambitions for the use of technology, digital and data within health and care. This approach includes setting clear standards for the use of technology in health and care.

Power of information (“giving people control of the health and care information they need”): A strategy that set out plans for using information and technology to improve health, care and support – to improve the experience, quality and outcomes of health and care services, intending to put people at the heart of care.

CP ITG roadmaps and next steps for IT

Digital priorities (pharmacy) and related papers.

The Community Pharmacy IT Group (CP ITG) has developed a roadmap to guide the future of digital technology in community pharmacy. This roadmap reflects feedback from pharmacy teams, IT suppliers, and national stakeholders, and aligns with NHS priorities such as the 10-Year Health Plan, and the Kings Fund Community Pharmacy Vision.

Digital priorities: CP ITG published its Digital priorities list (two pages) summary version (one-page) or  infographic version.

CPCF IT: CPCF grid, infographic and IT Reproductions of the grid and infographic to support IT relating to the Five-Year Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF).

EPS future list: Collated views about the key EPS priority items

Topol Review.

Topol Review 2 years on.

Topol Review (“Preparing the healthcare workforce to deliver the digital future”): It makes recommendations to enable NHS staff to make the most of innovative technologies such as genomics, digital medicine, artificial intelligence and robotics to improve services. These recommendations were intended to support the aims of the NHS Long-Term Plan, and the workforce implementation plan.

Topol Review 2 years on (roundtable discussions): Some of the original authors of the ‘Topal Review’ dicussed progress on the findings two years after the original review was published.

Personalised health and care; and related

NIB reports.

Personalised health and care 2020 (published 2014): A framework for action that intends to support frontline staff, patients and citizens to take better advantage of the digital opportunity. The intention is that better use of data and technology has the power to improve health, transform the quality and reduce the cost of health and care services via four key ways: (1) give patients and citizens more control over their health and wellbeing; (2) empower carers; (3) reduce the administrative burden for care professionals; and (4) support the development of new medicines and treatments. It also said clinicians should be more paperless; and patients should expect that those caring for them have efficient access to relevant information.

NIB reports (2016-2017): The role of the NIB was to put data and technology safely to work for patients, service users, citizens and the professionals who serve them. It brought together national health and care organisations from the NHS, public health, clinical science, social care and local government, along with appointed independent representatives to develop the strategic priorities for data and technology. It sets data and technology work-stream priorities in health and care and advised DHSC.

Wachter review.

Making IT Work.

Wachter review: This review on use of IT when improving the NHS, suggested technical changes tend to succeed where carried out alongside workforce transformation and workflow amendment / training. The review suggested recommendations to inform the English health and care system’s approach to the further implementation of IT in healthcare, especially the use of electronic health records and other digital tools to achieve a paper free system. Recommendations included: (1) strengthen and grow the pool of healthcare staff that will have trained both clinically and within digital fields; (2) Allocate the funding to help Trusts go digital – mostly for those needing help, and for rewards for those exemplars; (3) Link national funding for digital to viable local implementation plans; and (3) Ensure interoperability as a core characteristic of the NHS digital ecosystem.

Making IT Work (“Harnessing the Power of Health Information Technology to Improve Care in England”): Wachter working with an IT advisory body to NHSE and DHSC set out recommendations as to how to best implement digitl technology policy.

Caldicott2 (2013).

Caldicott3 (2016).

Caldicott2 (“Information Governance Review”): Review of information-sharing to ensure that there is an appropriate balance between the protection of patient information and the use and sharing of information to improve patient care.

Caldicott3 (“Review of data security, consent and opt-outs”): Recommendations aimed at strengthening the safeguards for keeping health and care information secure and ensuring the public can make informed choices about how their data is used. A recommendation was made in some scenarios that the duty to share information for a patient benefit could be as important as the duty to protect confidentiality.

Informatics (“The future, an organisational summary”): (DHSC 2012)

Securing excellence in IT Services (“Operating model for community pharmacies and others”) (NHS England 2012)

A list of local contact details is available to users of NHS Service Finder (available for health care staff such as pharmacy teams members and LPC members):

List of local DoS team contact info (login required).

The ICB is a statutory NHS organisation responsible for planning NHS services to meet the health needs of the population, managing the NHS budget and arranging for the provision of health services in the area.

They have both a chief executive and chair, and they are accountable to NHS spending and performance within their local boundaries.

List of pharmacy contract teams within ICBs.

LAs are involved with commissioning the majority of public health services. Each LA has a Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) which has a wide remit across the new health and care system, providing strategic oversight and bringing together all the local commissioners. HWBs do not commission services; that is undertaken by the LA.

Each council also has a health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) dedicated to scrutinising local NHS policy, planning, and impact against local needs and inequalities. The health OSC also must be consulted on any proposed substantial service changes.

Contractors and LPCs may identify their local record project team via the list below.

List of local records projects/teams.

LPCs work with local partners – potentially to help set out local IT priorities.

List of LPCs.

NHS England is a body made up of thousands of staff, some of whom may work locally on user research or IT implementation (e.g. use of EPS and health records).

The four Regional Medicines Optimisation Committees for England make recommendations, pursue actions, and co-ordinate activities related to any aspect of Medicines Optimisation.

The Specialist Pharmacy Service website contains a page through which patients, practitioners and teams can submit ideas for RMOCs to consider. The website also contains RMOC membership lists, agendas, meeting dates and minutes.