Coronavirus programme updates, 17 May 2021

Supporting delivery of vaccinations

We're leading the technology and data workstream, providing data, analysis and infrastructure to support delivery of vaccination programmes and facilitate post-vaccination monitoring.

Delivering digital services for NHS Test and Trace

NHS Digital is the primary digital delivery partner for testing within NHS Test and Trace, supports Contain with a series of dashboards plotting the spread of infection within the UK, and provides IT service management and cyber security management for NHS Test and Trace.

Digital channels for citizen guidance and triage

Our citizen-facing channels allow patients to access information and guidance, self-manage symptoms and be routed to the most appropriate care, minimising contact and reducing the burden on clinical staff.

Identifying and protecting vulnerable citizens

The Shielded Patient List identifies patients judged to be at the highest risk from COVID-19. We're also developing digital infrastructure to support a more sophisticated approach to identifying individuals with increased vulnerability to COVID-19.

Enabling remote and collaborative care

We're making data and systems available to enable remote and collaborative working by health and care staff, minimising transmission and managing strained capacity (caused, for example, by practices closed or staff unwell).

Intelligence to support planning

Our data intelligence is being used to provide data, analysis, and dashboards to help the health and care system understand the outbreak. This helps professionals understand prevalence and spread, and gives data to assist planning to manage capacity.

Enabling research and clinical trials

NHS Digital plays an important role supporting research into COVID-19. We help to make data and analyses available to support research and increase our understanding of COVID-19 transmission, immunity and clinical outcomes. We're also enabling the acceleration of COVID-19 drug and vaccine clinical trials.