The pandemic has underlined the urgent need for NHS trusts to improve their digital maturity and unleash the power of technology. Too many are still working with out-of-date IT,  but momentum is building at national level to change this.

The health and social care secretary last year launched the Digital Aspirant programme, which has provided tech funding for more than 50 trusts to be spent modernising their tech infrastructure.

In our next webinar, we’ll look at how those trusts have sought to digitise their services, what their main priorities are for digital transformation, and what lies ahead for the Digital Aspirant programme.

The one-hour session on 9 December, hosted by our tech correspondent Nick Carding, will cover:

• How trusts with low digital maturity are modernising their IT infrastructure;
• What digital products and solutions trusts are prioritising with nationally allocated funding;
• How national NHS organisations plan to help trusts and integrated care systems transform their tech capability.

Register here for this event, which is free to HSJi subscribers.

Latest investigations                  

Coventry and Warwickshire ICS (Better Health, Better Care, Better Value)

Coventry and Warwickshire Health and Care Partnership was approved as an integrated care system by NHS England in March 2021. The system has been placed by NHS England in segment 3 of its new performance regime. The system has four groups, with 1 being the strongest performers and 4 being those struggling most. This means the system is seen as having significant support needs and significant gaps in building the necessary capability and capacity for successful ICS delivery.  The system was selected by NHS England for the national accelerator programme to tackle the waiting list backlog from April to July 2021.

Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICS

The ICS has not experienced particularly high numbers of covid cases throughout the pandemic but services have still suffered.  The system is focusing on reducing high levels of diagnostic demand (particularly on MRI services), breast cancer referrals and urgent and emergency care activity in a bid to make operation of services more manageable over winter. There is also a focus on improving the ageing estate of the acute trusts.

Data

The following data was updated last week:

• Beds Occupied of Acute,Sp,Com,MH in Q2 2021-22
• Number of Beds of Acute,Sp,Com,MH in Q2 2021-22