News
The latest news from NHS Digital.
August
Widening Digital Participation Programme helps patients improve their health
Two pilot projects are proving that digital technology helps people to better manage their health.
Quality of healthcare premises is captured in latest patient-led assessments
16 August 2018: Annual patient-led assessments of non-clinical elements of care such as food and waiting areas have been published by NHS Digital today
Creating a new IT ecosystem for General Practice
13 August 2018: NHS Digital launches engagement opportunity for supplier community
Every GP practice across London successfully makes switch to Electronic Prescription Service
6 August: GP practices across London have successfully made the switch to using the Electronic Prescription Service – saving hours of GPs’, pharmacists’ and patients’ time every day.
July
NHS Digital Vacancy Statistics published
26 July: New statistics related to vacancies in the NHS have been published
Visits to NHS Choices for heat-related health advice rise by nearly 450%
Demand for online heat-related health advice from the NHS is soaring as most of England continues to bask in a heatwave.
NHS Digital welcomes three new, non-executive directors
John Noble, Deborah Oakley and Balram Veliath joined the Board at NHS Digital on 1 July 2018, bringing their expertise to the leadership of the organisation.
Statement in response to RCN press release: Digital transformation of health care will remain a pipe dream without involving nurses, RCN warns
STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO RCN PRESS RELEASE: Digital transformation of health care will remain a pipe dream without involving nurses, RCN warns
NHS Digital annual report and accounts published
The NHS Digital annual report and accounts for 2017-18 has been published.
NHS Apps Library reaches 70 apps in honour of the NHS birthday
Patients can access a range of new tools on the NHS Apps Library, offering personalised advice, self-care and signposts to health services.
NHS70 - Seven facts for seven decades
In celebration of the NHS’s 70th birthday this week, NHS Digital reveals seven statistics for seven decades.
Around 1.6 million fewer adult smokers in England in six years
The number of adult smokers in England has dropped by around 1.6m between 2011 and 2017, official figures released by NHS Digital, Public Health England and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.
NHS Digital and TPP statement about type 2 objections error
NHS Digital’s statement about an error with recording type 2 objections and a message from TPP
June
NHS Digital leading the protection of patient data with new patient de-identification solution
NHS Digital has signed a contract to deliver a new software solution for the de-identification of patient information, which will help to improve the way that data is used across the NHS and social care.
Cyber security boost to the NHS as NHS Digital joins forces with IBM
NHS Digital has entered into a three-year strategic partnership with IBM to provide a range of new and improved services to health and care organisations.
Private healthcare data to be captured by NHS systems
An initiative has been launched to ensure private healthcare data is recorded in the same way as NHS data in England, with the aim of improving consistency across the system.
Twelve councils to share funding to explore social care digital innovation ideas
Twelve councils have been chosen by NHS Digital and the Local Government Association to explore how technology could help shape the future of social care.
Statistics on care of people with learning disabilities
Statistics on care of people with learning disabilities to mark learning disability week
GPs urged to make most of cancer screening dashboard
GPs and health organisations are being urged to help to improve rates of potentially lifesaving cervical screening by making the most of an innovative online data tool.
Figures published on surplus land in the NHS estate
Information on land and buildings which have been sold by the NHS, as well as land which has been retained but developed and used for housing, has been published by NHS Digital.
New funding to digitise information flow between adult social care and health settings
Local authorities, residential and domiciliary adult social care providers, researchers, academic organisations working in partnership with health organisations are being invited to apply for new funding to enable better sharing of social care and clinical information and data.
Over half of acute trusts now successfully switched over to the NHS e-Referral Service
More than 50 per cent of acute hospital trusts in England have switched off paper referrals and are now processing GP referrals for outpatient appointments digitally.
Implementing child protection system ‘must be priority’ for councils and NHS organisations – children’s minister
Children’s Minister Nadhim Zahawi MP has called on councils and NHS organisations yet to implement a child protection information sharing system to do so as a priority.
May
Historical workforce statistics in lead-up to NHS70
Historical workforce statistics in lead-up to NHS70 birthday milestone
National data opt-out introduced across England
The ‘National Data Opt-Out’ is introduced today, providing a facility for individuals to opt-out from the use of their data for research or planning purposes. This is provided in line with the recommendations of the National Data Guardian in her Review of Data Security, Consent and Opt-Outs. The service will initially be in beta, while we ensure the service design is optimal.
NHS Digital's response to Lord Carter's report
NHS Digital's Senior Clinical Lead Caron Swinscoe has welcomed Lord Carter's independent report into how improvements in technology could boost the productivity of mental health and community services around the country.
New Toolkit to help keep information safe
NHS Digital has launched the new Data Security and Protection Toolkit, replacing the previous Information Governance Toolkit, to help keep patient information safe.
New £1m funding for innovative digital adult social care pilots
Following the success of last year’s Local Investment Programme, NHS Digital and the Local Government Association have announced new funding for digital pilots that benefit people who access adult social care and improve services.
Cyber News Brief
The WannaCry cyber incident was a global attack on an unprecedented scale. While it was not directly targeted at the NHS it had a major impact on health and care.
A statement from NHS Digital on the Memorandum of Understanding with the Home Office
A statement from NHS Digital on the Memorandum of Understanding with the Home Office
Guide launched to improve access to digital healthcare for all
Guide launched to improve access to digital healthcare for all
High earners more likely to drink alcohol, new statistics show
High earners more likely to drink alcohol, new statistics show
April
Boost to NHS cyber security as new security measures announced
Unsupported Microsoft systems in the NHS will be a thing of the past under new plans announced today to strengthen resilience against cyber-attacks as part of a new multi-million deal with Microsoft.
Microsoft deal - background information
The Department of Health and Social Care has announced a new centralised Windows 10 agreement which offers local organisations Microsoft Windows operating system licences, including Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (WDATP).
Chief Nurse hails ‘great opportunity to use technology’ in new report
NHS Digital Chief Nurse Anne Cooper uses the foreword of a new Queen’s Nursing Institute report being published today to say that we are on the cusp of a great opportunity to use technology to accelerate the contribution community nurses make to patient care.
NHS Digital’s ‘Widening Digital Participation’ programme in the running for top award
The ‘Widening Digital Participation’ programme has been shortlisted for the Cross-Sector Collaboration award at this year’s Digital Leaders 100 event.
Clinical Informatics Fellows begin at NHS Digital
Four frontline clinicians have begun a year’s informatics fellowship at NHS Digital to use their experiences as clinicians to support the design of a new generation of digital tools and services for NHS staff and patients.
A statement from NHS Digital on the vaginal mesh report
NHS Digital's statistics are entirely independent from government, as specified by the UK Statistics Authority's Code of Practice for Statistics
NHS Digital publishes statistics on vaginal mesh procedures
NHS Digital has published experimental statistics on patients that have had a procedure for urogynaecological prolapse or stress urinary incontinence including those where mesh, tape or their equivalents have been used.
NHS Digital joins Open Data Institute in Leeds to promote innovation through data
NHS Digital is joining the Open Data Institute (ODI) Leeds as a sponsor to form a collaboration seeking to pursue innovation through data.
NHS Digital statement on Health Select Committee's report into patient data sharing
In relation to the Health Select Committee's report into the memorandum of understanding on data sharing between NHS Digital and the Home Office, NHS Digital's Chief Executive, Sarah Wilkinson, has issued the following statement.
Hospital admissions where obesity is a factor increased by 18 per cent
There were 617,000 admissions to NHS hospitals in 2016/17 where obesity was recorded as either a primary or secondary diagnosis, an increase of 18 per cent on 2015/16 (525,000).
March
Patients in urgent care settings to benefit from electronic prescriptions
Use of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) in integrated urgent care settings is to be rolled out nationally following a successful pilot.
NHS Digital funding awarded to projects that help ease delayed transfers of care
NHS Digital have announced the local authority and NHS partnerships that have been successful in bidding for a share of £1.4m to help digitise their assessment, discharge and withdrawal (ADW) notices.
Electronic outpatient system set to save NHS at least £50 million
All first outpatients' referrals will have to be made electronically from later this year in a move that is set to save the NHS at least £50 million.
Prescription Cost Analysis report published
The cost of prescriptions dispensed in the community and the number of items dispensed during the 2017 calendar year has been published today by NHS Digital1.
Call for more data to be added to breast implant registry
Patients undergoing breast implant surgery are being urged to speak to their surgeon and ensure their details are recorded on a registry designed to safeguard their health.
Celebrating 70 years of the NHS
The NHS turns 70 on 5 July 2018. Help celebrate the achievements of one of the nation's most loved institutions.
Narrowing of NHS gender divide but men still the majority in senior roles
The proportion of NHS doctors who are women has grown every year since 2009, analysis of NHS workforce statistics by NHS Digital for International Women's Day shows.
Latest experimental statistics about female genital mutilation published
New official figures published today provide experimental statistics on female genital mutilation (FGM) in England, from October 2017 to December 2017.
A statement from NHS Digital on the Mail On Sunday's FGM article
A Mail On Sunday article (published Sunday March 4) wrongly suggested that NHS Digital is falsely inflating the number of British FGM victims by including newborn babies in its data.
NHS Digital team wins public sector 'Boss of the SOC' award
A team from NHS Digital's Digital Delivery Centre (DDC) has won Splunk's public sector 'Boss of the SOC' awards in an event that saw eight teams from across government in England take part.
NHS Digital Director of Data Science named in dataIQ 100
NHS Digital's Director of Data Science, Professor Daniel Ray, has been named in the 2018 dataIQ 100 list.
February
Statistics show change in NHS workforce over time
The number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff working in the NHS in England has increased by 1.5 per cent (17,900) since 2016, according to figures released by NHS Digital today.
Just under half of all referrals that completed psychological therapy in 2016-17 recovered, new report shows
Just under half (49.3 per cent) of those referrals finishing treatment for anxiety and depression in 2016-17 recovered, according to official statistics published today by NHS Digital.
NHS Digital and techUK look to next steps in their partnership
NHS Digital and techUK have outlined their view on the future challenges they need to tackle to take their partnership to the next level.
Developers invited to add to NHS Apps Library
Developers are being invited to submit applications as the NHS Apps Library continues to grow.
Systems integration to boost NHS communication
NHS staff will be able to communicate with each other through better integrated systems, thanks to new plans announced by NHS Digital.
NHS Digital apps and wearables team hosts Swedish delegation
Representatives from Sweden's key health organisations visited NHS Digital this week to share knowledge and experience of the apps and digital healthcare landscape.
Adult social care workforce statistics released by NHS Digital today
NHS Digital has today published the latest information on the number of adult social care staff who work for local authorities in England.
Hospital admissions for drug-related mental and behavioural disorders fall by 12 per cent in a year
New NHS Digital data show that the hospital admissions2 for drug-related mental and behavioural disorders dropped by 12 per cent in a year, from 8,621 in 2015/16 to 7,545 in 2016/17. Admissions are still 12 per cent higher than 2006/07 when they totalled 6,743.
NHS Digital project manager clinches top honour at Women in IT awards
NHS Digital Senior Project Manager Marta Raper has won the Editor's Choice category at the Women in IT Awards held in London.
January
Uptake for routine breast screening falls
The proportion of women aged 50-70 taking up routine breast screening invitations fell to 71.1 per cent in 2016-17 down from 72.1 per cent in 2015-16 and 73.6 per cent in 2006-07. It is at the lowest rate over the 10 year period.
Information sharing presents major barrier to social workers
98 per cent of social workers cited at least one difficulty with sharing information digitally, in research commissioned by NHS Digital.
NHS Digital deal bolsters protection against cyber security threats
NHS Digital has entered a new deal with Microsoft that supports health and care organisations in protecting their IT infrastructure against cyber threats.
A Statement from NHS Digital on the misrepresentation of our vacancy statistics in some media reports
A number of media reports on our vacancy statistics data published on 23 January have unintentionally misrepresented our data. It is not possible to use our data to draw any conclusions on the number of appointments as a proportion of advertisements raised. This is because our information is based on the secondary use of administrative data related to job advertisements within NHS Jobs. The appointments data is often not completed, as individual organisations will have alternative means of managing appointments information locally.
NHS Digital publishes guidance on data off-shoring and cloud computing for health and social care
National guidance has been published today, setting clear expectations for health and care organisations who want to use cloud services or data offshoring to store patient information.
NHS Digital comment on Reform report into Artificial Intelligence in health care
In light of the think-tank Reform's report into the use of Artificial Intelligence in health care, NHS Digital's Director of Data, Professor Daniel Ray, commented on the paper's recommendations about the need to get data right in order to progress the use of artificial intelligence in health care.
NHS Digital staff shortlisted for Women in IT Awards
NHS Digital staff have been shortlisted in for the Women in IT Awards 2018.
NHS Digital welcomes introduction of CQC's new rating system for digital GP tools
NHS Digital's Programme Director for Apps and Wearables has welcomed the announcement from the Department of Health that the CQC will be given the power to rate digital GP tools.