The problem
In the urgency to modernise NHS services, there’s a tempting shortcut: take existing analogue workflows and simply move them onto a digital platform. While technology does usually speed up processes, simply moving analogue working models onto a computer will not necessarily bring about the required change. If the existing models are inefficient or no longer fit for purpose then digitising them won’t solve the problem.
Digitising outdated processes doesn’t solve inefficiencies; it simply preserves them in a new format. Built-in delays to the health and care journey will remain, teams will continue to work in siloes, data will remain fragmented and the resident experience will not improve.
In our recent whitepaper, Neighbourhood health now: the digital roadmap for delivering neighbourhood services today, we set out how just doing something digitally without strategic redesign of resident’s health and care journeys risks repeating the very problems neighbourhood healthcare is meant to solve.
This is especially risky when neighbourhood healthcare depends on joined-up, preventative care. Without a digital-first strategy as a founding pillar of an overarching neighbourhood health implementation plan, the NHS risks building a digital façade over an outdated analogue foundation.
The solution: Strategic digital transformation
Neighbourhood healthcare must be built on digitally native workflows, not digital replicas of outdated ones. That means:
- Designing for collaboration: Platforms like Bleepa® enable asynchronous, cross-provider communication that reflects how modern teams work.
- Creating a single resident view: Data must be accessible, secure, and clinically relevant — not scattered across incompatible systems.
- Embedding digital into culture: Technology should support new ways of working, not just digitising outdated ones.
Digital workflows and technology are one pillar but must also be combined with the other foundations for neighbourhood health outlined in the whitepaper – organisational development, funding reform and data and information governance. Delivering on the neighbourhood health service is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring about the required improvements to the NHS. This needs to begin with accepting that a digital-first clinical redesign is an essential part of the process.
Mandating interoperability and investing in staff training and change management will be a crucial part of the process. This must be supported by the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England. Bold action is required to make neighbourhood healthcare a success, and taking these steps now is vital to support today’s residents, as well as future generations.
To find out more information on how to deliver neighbourhood healthcare, read our whitepaper Neighbourhood health now: the digital roadmap for delivering neighbourhood services today.