NHS Digital and NHSX merging with NHS England

The Department of Health and Social Care announced that NHS Digital and NHSX, are to be merged into NHS England and Improvement (NHSE/I), to support workforce planning and digital innovation. NHSX was created in 2019 and for the past two years it has been making the case for digital to be integrated within the NHS. This merger is a result of this campaign, a move that aims to allow the NHS to accelerate digital transformation across health and care.

“I am bringing digital transformation into the heart of the NHS.”

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid

By bringing all aspects of the NHS under one roof allows for enhanced collaboration, which was paramount for the NHS to tackle the pandemic which resulted in an acceleration of digital healthcare. However, the pace of which digital transformation shifted during the pandemic needs to remain and not be hindered by this merge.

Laura Wade-Gery, Non-Executive Director at NHS England and Chair of NHS Digital recommended this merge in order to accelerate progress in transforming the way healthcare is delivered.

“Digital has really changed how we live and we must now make this true in healthcare.”

Laura Wade-Gery, Non-Executive Director at NHS England and Chair of NHS Digital

The Department of Health and Social care encourages that these changes will better support the recovery of our NHS service, following the pandemic. They anticipate that it will help address waiting list backlogs, and support hardworking staff, all while driving forwards an ambitious agenda of digital transformation and progress. 

Resources

Major reforms to NHS workforce planning and tech agenda – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)