NHS: In-house Software Capabilities

Baroness Watkins of Tavistock Excerpts

Monday 16th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

My noble friend is right to point out the history. The NHS previously relied very heavily on large, outsourced IT systems that, in some cases, led to inflexibility, high long-term costs and limited NHS control over core platforms and data. I was glad to arrange for my noble friend to meet the chief data and analytics officer at NHS England last Wednesday. I hope that, like me, he was reassured that NHS England has very much shifted its model towards building and operating critical digital services in-house, in line with the standards that I referred to in my initial Answer.

[Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB)]

My Lords, cyber security is an essential element in any system, but nowhere more so than when people’s health records are being maintained. Many security breaches are attributed, at least in part, to human error. What investment are His Majesty’s Government making to train front-line staff in the new systems and provide continuous professional development to achieve the 10-year digital healthcare plan?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

The straightforward answer is that we are doing exactly that. It is important to say that our front-line digitisation—our move from analogue to digital—is not something for the sake of it; we are doing it because it is improving efficiency and outcomes. For example, a 94% coverage of electronic patient records is expected by the end of this month, and the digitally mature trusts show a 13% lower cost per admission. That is a prize worth having, but we can do it only through the systems and training that the noble Baroness seeks.