In 2018, we joined the nation in celebrating the 70-year anniversary of the National Health Service and the work that we as an organisation has done with both healthcare and public sector services over the past 13 years.
So much so in fact that we dedicated our latest quarterly edition of the Intercity Tech magazine towards the transition of the NHS’ systems into the digital age, and whether this will revolutionise the way patients receive healthcare in the future.
More recently, in January 2019 the NHS Long Term Plan was published, outlining the ways in which technology will play a central role in realising the plan.
Chapter 5 came as a particular interest to us, with a core focus around digital technology and its transformation within the NHS over the coming years.
WannaCry attack
When WannaCry hit the UK back in 2017, a minimum of 80 trusts across the UK fell victim, resulting in both NHS and patient downtime. The WannaCry attack led to 19,000 appointments and procedures being cancelled, and it disrupted over one third of trusts in England, so it’s no surprise to see that the healthcare sector is spearheading towards 100% compliance with mandated cyber security standards across all organisations to ensure NHS systems and data are secure.
Moving forward, the NHS have committed to allowing every patient in England to access a digital first, primary care offer, with access to their care plan and communications via the NHS App.
Health and care record platforms linking NHS and local authority organisations with be provisioned, systems to support population health management across Integrated Care Systems will be introduced and an extension of the Child Protection Information System will be embedded to cover all healthcare settings, including general practices.
Chief Research Office for F-Source, Mikko Hypponen, claims that
“NHS trusts across England are currently being pushed to the limit. It’s not surprising that they often don’t have the resources to dedicate 24/7 support to their IT systems.”
Hypponen also questions whether the majority of recent security breaches could have been an unfortunate consequence caused by a result of this.
With the NHS striving towards mainstream, digitally-enabled care across England, trusts now more than ever need to ensure that a robust digital strategy is in place to support this.
In light of the recent cyber-attacks, we reached out to 143 healthcare trusts around securing the future of the NHS, with 80 responding by commenting on the amount of downtime they experienced following a breach (including WannaCry, Locky and Zepto viruses).
Our findings showed that more than 17% of NHS Trusts experienced security-related downtime over the past three years, leading to over 18 days of IT outage, with 14 out of 25 trusts claiming that security breaches have been to root case of their IT outage over recent years.
NHS Digital Transformation
Data and security forms the lifeblood of not just the NHS, but all public sector organisations. In recent years, digital transformation has formed the basis of the local government digital strategy, with government organisations looking to digitise their processes. With a view to the next level of citizen value, organisations are looking to use digital technologies and innovation to transform the way the operate on a day to day basis.
Considering recent pressures of government budgets and cutbacks, public sector organisations are currently facing several challenges with updates and development to their current IT infrastructure, in line with the ever-developing digital sector.
Transformation strategy needs not to be as daunting as it may initially seem – by reviewing and modernising your existing infrastructure, and working with the right service level partner, it will allow for far greater efficiency whilst saving on both time and financial resource.
Summary
Intercity’s focus is, and always has been to transform public sector services and help drive digital transformation through the best use of technology to deliver the most effective outcomes and level of patient care.
By taking the time to understand not just our customers, but the sector in which they operate, it allows us to take a more informed approach to the way we work.
For more information on how Intercity Technology could support your public sector organisation, please contact publicsector@intercity.technology
