As benefits lead for the NHS Federated Data Platform (NHS FDP), I’m often asked what we mean when we talk about “benefits”. It’s a fair question and one that deserves a thoughtful answer.

What are benefits in the NHS FDP context?

At its core, a benefit is a measurable improvement that delivers real value to our stakeholders. Each benefit addresses specific challenges facing the NHS, whether that’s improving patient care, reducing administrative burden, or making better use of limited resources.

Across the NHS FDP programme, we’re focused on delivering tangible improvements in five key areas:

1. improving the quality and timeliness of patient care
2. reducing administrative burdens for staff and improving infrastructure productivity
3. releasing resources that can be better used elsewhere
4. enhancing patients’ experience of health services
5. improving the working experience for NHS staff

How we measure success

Measuring benefits effectively requires both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Some improvements – like reduced waiting times or increased theatre utilisation – can be expressed numerically. Others, particularly those related to patient or staff experience, are captured through surveys, interviews and case studies.

Every quarter we publish our key metrics, ensuring transparency about the progress we’re making. This regular reporting helps us share insights with the public, our stakeholders and the wider NHS community about the real impact the NHS FDP is having across the health service.

This is not benefits data for the sake of publishing it – we use it to monitor the value we are bringing and to improve our offer. For example, we use the information to support continuous learning and development, adjust our products and enhance our training and support offer.

Benefit tracking across our five key categories

• Improving care quality/timeliness: the Referral to Treatment (RTT) product supports patients being seen within the recommended 18-week window. We track pathway checks and closures carried out using this product.
• Improving staff productivity: the Inpatient and Outpatient products provide hospital teams with more accurate waiting list information. We work with Trusts to obtain estimates of staff time savings, for example University Hospitals Sussex are saving 90 hours weekly.
• Improving infrastructure productivity: the Inpatient product helps improve theatre utilisation. We automatically collect data on utilisation improvements and additional patients treated.
• Improving patient experience: the NHS FDP supports coordinated care across different services. We gather patient feedback and testimonials about improved care coordination.
• Improving staff experience: many of the NHS FDP products support improved staff experience. For instance, OPTICA product helps staff better manage discharge processes.  

Why measuring benefits matters

Benefits measurement isn’t just about ticking boxes or justifying investments – though that’s certainly part of it. When we measure benefits effectively, we can:

• Demonstrate whether we’ve achieved what we set out to do – going beyond simply delivering a project as expected to show the real-world improvements it’s creating.
• Identify where we need to adapt our approach – by seeing where benefits are falling short of expectations.
• Build confidence and trust – by being transparent about our progress and impact.
• Support future decision-making – by understanding what works and what doesn’t.

Our three-stage approach to benefits management

Within the NHS FDP programme, we implement benefits management in three main stages, always ensuring alignment with our strategic objectives:

• Stage 1: Identification and definition – We identify the specific benefits we expect from each product and determine how best to measure them.
• Stage 2: Delivery and measurement – We work with users, partners, suppliers and stakeholders to implement changes, assign benefit owners where appropriate, and measure the improvements when changes are implemented.
• Stage 3: Tracking and sustaining – We monitor benefits over time, supporting organisations to maintain and deepen the realisation of benefits. If usage or benefits decline, we provide additional training and targeted support.

We also assess products in development against expected benefits, ensuring that before anything is widely deployed, we’re confident about the value it will deliver.

Real impact across the NHS

The benefits we’re seeing aren’t just theoretical. As of our latest quarterly report, 72 trusts are now live with the NHS FDP and experiencing tangible improvements:

• nearly 75,000 extra patients have had procedures in theatres
• over 2.1 million records have been reviewed and validated to ensure patients are seen in the right place at the right time
• hundreds of thousands of patients have been safely removed from waiting lists

Beyond our national data, a new independent evaluation by Imperial’s Global Digital Health Unit on the impact of the Inpatients product at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust has shown there has likely been a sustained improvement since adoption, with 5.7% higher theatre utilisation in 2022, than estimated usage if NHS FDP hadn’t been deployed. The research will be published in full in the autumn.

Looking ahead

As we continue to roll out NHS FDP across more trusts – with a target of 115 Trusts in delivery by March 2026 – our focus on benefits will only intensify. We’ll keep measuring, learning and adapting to ensure the platform delivers maximum value for patients, staff and the wider health system.

By maintaining this disciplined approach to benefits management, we avoid wasting valuable resources, identify new opportunities for improvement, and ultimately deliver what matters most: better care for patients and better support for the dedicated staff who serve them.

Following best practice recommendations, we are now procuring an evaluation partner to conduct an independent evaluation of the impacts and benefits of FDP for patients, communities and organisations. This will enable us to learn and improve across the programme in the way we define, measure, realise and publicise benefits.