Estimated impact of the £10 bn investment in NHS’s technology, digital and data

A press release, published on 04 July 2026, included an estimate of the total benefit of an investment of up to £10bn in NHS’s technology, digital and data systems which was announced as part of the government’s 10 Year Health Plan.

The press release stated that the improvements are expected to deliver around half of the commitments in the government’s 10 Year Health Plan[1] and generate £41 billion in total benefits over the next decade. This initial figure is routinely updated as we incorporate new evidence and undertake further analysis. At time of publication, the total benefit figure is estimated at £43bn by March 2036.

The investment confirmed at the Spending Review 2026 has been allocated between multiple programme lines, the bulk of which sit within the national technology, digital, and data portfolio. The announcement and benefit figures related to that portfolio, and as such additional benefits will come from separate investments.

Each investment has produced a full business case to Green Book standards[2]. There is an inherently high degree of uncertainty associated with investment in new technologies, and so the degree of confidence in estimates varies across the portfolio, with confidence lower in those initiatives attempting to deliver more innovative services, such as Ambient Voice Technology or AI-enabled triage, for which the evidence base is weaker. However, patients expect us to be adopting these technologies at speed, and we will continue to work to understand the benefits throughout the delivery cycle.

We continue to work with HM Treasury to update guidance and to develop approaches to spending management which better reflect modern digital delivery but have nonetheless produced estimates to Green Book standards. We have applied significant adjustments throughout the portfolio to reflect the uncertainty in benefits estimates within each business case, and internal work will be undertaken periodically to update and refine the estimates.

The information which follows sets out the breakdown of the total benefits figure into its investment components, high-level information on the types of benefits we can expect, and some information on the confidence ranges applied.

 

[1] Counting all the commitments in the 10-Year Health Plan, around half refer to technology, digital and data systems.

[2]The estimation of benefits is inherently difficult for digital and data initiatives, and reforms are underway within government to improve these processes. Most notably, the Performance Review of Digital Spend, published by DSIT and HM Treasury in 2025, noted that Green Book methods are not well aligned with modern, agile digital delivery and seek unrealistic up-front certainty about delivery plans and resultant benefits.

The figures which follow have been produced in line with the Green Book. Benefit estimates are presented in discounted terms for the preferred option. Estimates were only included where an internal business case was fully approved or where final approval was expected imminently.

Discounting is the process of converting future costs or benefits into today's value, therefore, representing the most accurate interpretation of future benefits. This is to remove the effects of inflation and the devaluing of money overtime and allow consistent comparison of options.

Optimism Bias adjustments were made to costs, with confidence adjustments also made to benefits. These adjustments are the process of redressing the observed tendency for plans to be over-optimistic about key programme parameters by over-anticipating benefits and/or underestimating timings and costs. There are multiple reasons for applying such adjustments, with the Green Book saying that ideally adjustments should be based on an organisations own evidence base. In each of these cases we have utilised experienced project assessors and workshops to value each cost and benefit. The most prudent and conservative calculations have been used in this process. An individual confidence percentage is then applied to each benefit thereby reducing its total value, and finally individual phased annual benefit realisations plans are applied.

Our investments in technology, digital and data programmes over the next ten years currently include the following:

 

Cyber Improvement Programme:

 

Responsible for national-level cybersecurity capabilities across both NHSE and the DHSC Group.

 

Total Estimated Benefit: £135m

Cumulative risk reduction[1] over a 10-year period from 1st Apr 2026 is around £1.2bn

This figure comprises 5 benefits with a confidence of 60% and individual phased benefits realisation plans giving a conservative benefits realisation position as per HMT Green Book guidance.

The Cyber investment is predominantly built on risk reduction. However, we also identified other cash releasing and non-cash releasing benefits. Cash releasing benefits are those that reduce costs or increase revenue in such a way that cash is ‘released’ and can be used elsewhere or to support new costs of the system implemented. For example, by providing cyber-security systems at a national level, trusts will be able to decommission local systems and realise a cost saving.  

Non-cash releasing benefits are quantifiable benefits that do not release savings. These can be reducing the time taken to complete a specific activity that does not result in a headcount reduction. However, the increased productivity would release capacity in the organisation to meet future demand or re-allocate resource to other activities within the organisation. For example, increased automation and AI-enabling time saving for cyber analysts for routine activities such as threat monitoring.

 

Frontline Productivity:

A successor to the Frontline Digitisation programme, these investments will move away from investments in Electronic Patient Records to driving benefits through a focus on high-productivity technologies (such as Ambient Voice Technology) and implementation for process optimisation and business change. It will also invest in resilience and security risk remediation.

Total Estimated Benefit: £15.3bn

This figure is calculated from 36 individual benefits with confidence ranges between 2% to 30% and individually phased benefit realisation plans.

Benefits include administrative and clinical staff time saved, reduction in operating costs and material waste, and improved wellness (see annex). Most benefits accrue in the form of saving staff time.  Examples include reductions in clinician time wasted using slow connections or time spent looking for patient information or administrating drugs. This becomes cash-releasing if it is considered that the direct implication of this is a reduction in staffing or agency spend, but at this stage all productivity savings are treated as non-cash releasing.  

Reducing operating and procurement costs and reduced material waste also form part of identified benefits – these make up the cash releasing benefits and are largely driven through actions in the Closed Loop Medicines Systems and cloud and hosting workstreams.

 

Establishing Operational Excellence:

Investing in data architecture and services to improve efficiency and reduce cost by leveraging AI and automation to augment the workforce, streamline diagnostics, optimise flow management, and embed clinical decision support, building on the existing investments to maximise their impact. It also standardises data flows for real-time operational decisions and digitises reporting for statutory processes, such as the Mental Health Act.  

Total Estimated Benefit: £739m

This figure is calculated from 38 individual benefits with confidence ranges between 10% to 90% and individually phased benefit realisation plans.

Key benefits include:

• Prevention and Wellbeing: By enabling earlier interventions and better evidence-based care, more people stay well for longer, reducing demand on health services.
• Faster Treatment and Recovery: Streamlined data reporting and integrated workflows mean patients are diagnosed and treated more quickly, helping them return to work and continue contributing to society.
• Reduced Carbon Emissions: Decommissioning unnecessary data flows and systems lowers energy consumption and environmental impact.
• Improved Patient Outcomes: Reliable, consistent data supports better clinical decisions, reducing complications and improving quality of life.
• Economic and Social Gains: Healthier individuals and shorter treatment cycles reduce absenteeism, increase productivity, and minimise societal costs.

 

Federated Data Platform:

Continued delivery of the existing Federated Data Platform (FDP).

Total Estimated Benefit: (26/27 to 30/31, i.e. not including pre-Spending Review benefits): £782m.

This figure is calculated from 43 individual benefits with confidence ranges between 20% to 70% and individually phased benefit realisation plans.

Benefits include administrative and clinical staff time saved, reduction in operating costs and material waste, improved access to the correct care setting, and reduction in time to diagnose.

Details on the FDP benefits have already been published and are available here: NHS England » NHS Federated Data Platform uptake and benefits.

The methodology is also published in detail NHS England » Methods for the published uptake and benefits information.

 

Transforming and Connecting Care:

Investments in services to facilitate joined up care, principally through the flagship Single Patient Record and Unified Genomic Record.

Total Estimated Benefit: £5.7bn

This figure is calculated from 49 individual benefits with confidence ranges between 5% to 70% and individually phased benefit realisation plans.

Benefits include administrative and clinical staff time saved, reduction in operating costs and material waste, improved access to the correct care setting, improved wellness, prevention of illness and disease, reduction in time to diagnose, reduction in length of stay in hospital, increased activity (e.g. additional appointments) and reduction in carbon emissions.

We have previously provided some detail of the methodology for the impact of Single Patient Record.

 

Transforming People-Facing Services:

A wide range of deliverables including but not limited to the NHS App, focused on enhancing the patient experience and their ability to self-serve, ranging from appointment booking to nationally provided screening and preventative testing services. 

Total Estimated Benefit: £15.9bn

This figure is calculated from 71 individual benefits with confidence ranges between 20% to 95% and individually phased benefit realisation plans.

Benefits have been identified by each Theme area:

At Home and Community:

• Independent prescribers operate consistently to national clinical standards, reducing risk and improving quality at scale
• Increase in GP staff satisfaction and productivity by processing incoming messages more effectively
• Community Pharmacy will spend less time processing and managing incoming referrals
• Improved productivity (time released) for Community Pharmacists by reducing need to access multiple systems
• Improved Productivity (time released) for GPs and sexual health clinics by diverting contraception consultations to pharmacies
• Improved productivity (time released) for Community Pharmacists by enabling patients to view pharmacy availability and book clinical appointments
• Reduced activity in secondary care from optometrists' direct referrals
• Reduce cost for hospitals i.e. purchase prescription pads; prescriptions no longer need to be posted; courier costs

Access, Triage and Navigation:

• Reduction in GP time spent on triage for patients who can self-refer to appropriate services
• Reduction In GP clinical time on referrals for cancer patients who can self-refer
• Reduction In GP clinical time on referrals for mental health patients who can self-refer
• Improved patient information in the EPR workflow
• Reduced administration burden

Transforming Planned Care Pathways:

• Reduced number of unnecessary referrals (Advice and Guidance)
• Reduced number of missed appointments (appointment management sector expansion)
• Reduced administrative burden for providers (Referrals sector expansion)
• Fewer avoidable referrals (reduced demand on appointments as patients are referred to the right place first time - standardised referral data)
• GPs will avoid spending time re-referring patient
• Reduced number of appointments used for follow-up (Patient Initiated Follow-Ups)
• Reduced administrative burden for GPs

Prevention:

• Reduced downstream NHS treatment costs associated with a reduction in the prevalence of obesity
• Increased time saved by GPs, as the online health check is cheaper to deliver than face to face
• Release of NHS staff operational capacity by saving time on admin tasks
• Release of clinical time associated with vaccinating Flu and COVID
• Increase in NHS staff productivity by reducing manual effort in transferring child public health records
• Reduced admin effort in booking and re-booking screening appointments
• Reduced cost to serve from automation of the Lung Health Check

Our Health Companion:

• Reduced administration effort in manual entry of new patients and faster patient registration with a new practice.
• Reduction in the number of GP appointments made by patients due to having digital access to their test results
• Reduction in inflated GP list size which reduces payments based on list size
• Reduce cost of communication to patients
• Reduction in operational costs of the NHS login Prove Your Identity (PYI) Service

 

Core Infrastructure:

Investments in services ranging from Microsoft capabilities and process automation through to national services such as ‘Register with a GP Surgery' and rationalisation of corporate IT. The current interim case, which is subject to final approvals, is forecast to contribute:

Total Estimate Benefits: (subject to final approval) £4.8bn

This is calculated from 19 individual benefits with confidence ranges between 30% to 90% and individually phased benefit realisation plans.

Benefits fall under two main categories- administrative time saved and reduction in operating costs from consolidation of corporate IT services.

 

[1] Risk reduction is not classed as a benefit.

Table 1: Summary of categories of benefit by programme of expenditure 

	Core Infrastructure	Cyber Security Programme	Establishing Operational Excellence	Federated Data Platform	Frontline Productivity	TPPSFS	Transforming and Connecting Care
Save staff time (Admin)
Save staff time (Clinical)
Reduce operating costs
Reduce materials waste
Get the right service (or self-care) first time
Improve wellness
Prevent illness and disease
Reduce time to diagnose
Reduce length of stay
Increased activity
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Enable decision support to provide best evidence-based care
Reduce DNAs

 

 Table 2: Description of each benefit category

Outcome	Description	Typical Benefit Valuation Approach
Save staff time (Admin)	Reduces time spent by administrative staff on manual, repetitive, or non-value-adding tasks.	Hours saved × cost per hour of administrative staff.
Save staff time (Clinical)	Reduces time spent by clinicians on administrative or inefficient processes, freeing time for direct patient care.	Hours saved × cost per hour of clinical staff.
Reduce operating costs	Lowers expenditure required to deliver services through greater efficiency or reduced demand on resources.	Direct reduction in annual expenditure (£).
Reduce materials waste	Reduces consumption or disposal of medicines, consumables, paper, equipment, or other physical resources.	Reduction in units used × cost per unit.
Get the right service (or self-care) first time	Improves access to the most appropriate care setting, reducing unnecessary contacts and referrals.	Avoided activity × cost difference between actual and optimal care pathway.
Improve wellness	Enhances physical, mental, or social wellbeing, enabling individuals to maintain healthier lives.	Quality of life improvement valued through wellbeing measures, productivity gains, or reduced service utilisation.
Prevent illness and disease	Reduces the likelihood of future illness through prevention, screening, education, or early intervention.	Cost of avoided cases and associated treatment costs.
Reduce time to diagnose	Shortens the period between presentation and confirmed diagnosis, enabling earlier intervention.	Avoided complications, reduced treatment costs, and improved health outcomes.
Reduce length of stay	Reduces the average time patients spend in hospital whilst maintaining safe care.	Bed days released × cost per bed day.
Increase activity	Enables more patients, appointments, procedures, or interventions to be delivered using existing resources.	Additional activity × value or contribution margin per activity unit.
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions	Lowers carbon emissions associated with healthcare delivery, travel, energy, or materials.	Tonnes CO₂ reduced × carbon value (£/tonne CO₂).
Enable decision support to provide best evidence-based care	Improves clinical decision-making through access to current evidence, guidance, and recommendations.	Value through improved outcomes, avoided adverse events, reduced variation, or reduced inappropriate interventions.
Reduce DNAs	Reduces the number of appointments or contacts that patients do not attend.	Avoided DNAs × cost per missed appointment and/or additional activity enabled.