Dr Markus Gwiggner, Consultant Gastroenterologist University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

When Dr Markus Gwiggner started redesigning how inflammatory bowel disease care is delivered at University Hospital Southampton, the average wait from referral to treatment was 177 days. Today, it is 24.

That transformation tells the story of what the shift from analogue to digital can really mean for patients.

As a Consultant Gastroenterologist and Associate Chief Clinical Information Officer at UHS, Markus combines specialist clinical expertise with a passion for digital innovation. He leads the My Medical Record platform at UHS Digital and works with NHS England to design gastroenterology pathways for the new NHS Online Hospital — helping to shape not just local services, but the future of how the NHS delivers care nationally.

The results in Southampton are striking. Today, 88% of IBD outpatient care is delivered remotely. Over 5,000 patients — 85% of those with IBD — use My Medical Record to access results, manage appointments and message their clinical teams directly. Digital messaging has increased twelvefold over five years, while telephone contacts have fallen by 30%. Routine follow-up appointments have been cut from three per year to one, with patients empowered to initiate contact themselves when they need it most.

A home-based calprotectin testing pilot has taken this further still, with 93% of patients reporting faster, more convenient monitoring that helps them manage their condition with confidence.

“Moving from analogue to digital empowers patients to actively take part in their care,” Markus explains. “Digital tools allow clinical teams to work more efficiently and, together with pathway transformation, improve access to timely NHS care while avoiding low-value appointments — freeing up time for urgent and non-digital NHS patients.”

Markus’s work is a masterclass in what digitally-enabled, patient-centred care looks like when it is done well — and a glimpse of where the NHS is heading.