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Another step towards a paperless NHS

NHS England’s Director of Digital Technology takes us on a virtual tour of the Digital Zone at Expo 2015:

I am driven by my firm belief that we should never stop innovating – that there is always a solution out there, it’s just a matter of honing in on where exactly the problem lies.

As Director of Digital Technology at NHS England, this belief stands truer than ever and guides everything I do. Only by listening to those with frontline experiences of care provision can we expose the challenges we face and begin our journey to recovery.

When it comes to seeing the transformative powers that technology has to offer, few opportunities are as rich as the Health and Care Innovation Expo and, at its beating heart, the Digital Zone.

This year, I am particularly excited to be taking part in the “Meet the Leaders” activity, where staff, patients, citizens and the supplier community will be offering their insights to us, as leaders, too often separated from ‘real world’ experiences by a podium or screen.

I, together with executives from the Department of Health, HSCIC and The National Information Board will be welcoming all visitors to drop in and help us understand how we can make the NHS serve, empower and deliver on its promises.

Split into five separate areas, this year’s Digital Zone will be buzzing with two full days of demonstrations, talks and interactive sessions that showcase the excellent work we are doing and the progress we are already making.

Representing the key themes set out by the National Information Board’s Framework for Action, the five areas include examples of interoperability led by pioneering Trusts, such as Bristol and Cumbria, with experts on hand to demystify the task of implementing interoperable systems and removing the need for paper records at the point of care.

In the Digital Surgery, visitors have the chance to think about and develop their own local area digital roadmap; what steps they have already taken, what still needs to be done and how and when that could be achieved. An interactive wall enables you to visualise your journey while neighbouring areas within the Zone focusing on Patient Online and Code4Health initiatives keep you up to date on just how all of this can be done.

With its very own Theatre offering a packed agenda of talks and key announcements from across health and care, I believe this year’s Digital Zone at the Health and Care Innovation EXPO is far more than just the highlight of my calendar, I believe it is a firm step on the path towards bringing the Five Year Forward Vision to life and enabling patient-centred, paper-free care by 2020.

Beverley Bryant was previously Director of Digital Technology, since the publication of these blogs she has left NHS England.

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