Cloud, big data and AI lead NHS digital transformation

Adopting a digital transformation strategy in the face of tight budgets and cuts could save the NHS from becoming increasingly burdened and possibly collapsing as the healthcare service we know. Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has committed 4bn to invest in technology for the NHS, but the level of digital transformation and its maturity across 239 trusts is mixed at best. Achieving a data-sharing, paper-free NHS appears a little way off. Solid projects have been undertaken recently to adopt more digital services over traditional on-premise IT systems in public healthcare. These projects are not as comprehensive as the IT overhaul undertaken by the Cambridge University NHS Hospitals Trust in partnership with HP, but they do show how the NHS is beginning to use more digital technology that yields results.