The government wants a 'digital NHS' but are they willing to spend the £21 billion needed to make it a success?

8 May 2025, 09:07

Technology has the potential to transform health and social care.

From using AI to spot diseases earlier to automating time-consuming admin and giving patients more control over appointments, the benefits of going digital could be significant. And the government agrees — with the shift from analogue to digital central to its plans for NHS reform. There are also plans to improve the digital capabilities of social care.

But with the health and care system still trailing behind other sectors like commerce and banking when it comes to digitisation, how much could this ambition cost to achieve? In the absence of a publicly available official figure, the Health Foundation commissioned research to find out. And it concluded, unsurprisingly, that significant spending will be needed. Digitising the NHS and adult social care across the UK is estimated to cost £21 billion over the next five years – including £14.75 billion in England alone – with ongoing costs beyond.

This estimate not only covers core infrastructure costs, like hardware, electronic patient records and cyber security, but also things like training staff, transitioning to new systems, maintenance and critically, making sure the tech is used to its full potential. These investments could create better and more efficient processes for NHS staff, as well as better care and experience for patients. Importantly, digitisation could also help improve productivity and generate financial savings for the NHS.

These points about implementing technology effectively and optimising how it’s used are particularly important. For example, recent Health Foundation analysis found that while most NHS providers in England have an electronic patient record system, many aren’t yet using them to their full potential. Digitisation shouldn’t be just about replacing paper; it should be about transforming how care is delivered. But without a proper plan to make sure we are realising the benefits of technology, we may fail to achieve this. So, the government has to invest in the change, not just the technology.

While there has been some good progress on digitisation, the overall pace of change has consistently fallen short of policy ambitions. So what will make the difference this time? The government needs to set out a clear, long-term vision for digitisation in the NHS and social care, support it with sufficient and stable funding, and develop a sustainable plan for helping the NHS realise the benefits of technology.

The forthcoming NHS 10-year plan and Spending Review, as well as the Casey Commission into social care, offer an opportunity to put in place a better approach to digitisation. While resources will be hard to find in the current financial climate, the reward of getting it right is worth it: a better, more effective and efficient health and care system for us all.

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Tom Hardie is Senior Improvement Fellow at the Health Foundation

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