Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to mark the 75th anniversary of the NHS; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of technology on secondary healthcare at Royal Bolton Hospital.

The Department marked the 75th Anniversary of the National Health Service over the course of June and July, working closely with NHS England. The Department and NHS England made a number of flagship announcements, including the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan; a new national targeted lung cancer screening programme; the Government’s Mandate to NHS England; an additional one million health checks to tackle cardiovascular disease through the new NHS Digital Health Checks; and a £21 million fund for NHS trusts to bid and procure artificial intelligence diagnostic imaging tools.

In December 2022, Bolton NHS Foundation Trust published their Digital Strategy for 2022-2025, which sets out their ambition to become a 'Digital Trust' via four objectives, digital integration, digital care, digital workforce and digital infrastructure. The Strategy sets out the proposed changes to the local health and social care system and benefits to patients, the workforce and system. In 2022/23, the Department provided Royal Bolton £1.29 million to “digitise the frontline” by improving access to electronic patient record data across the NHS. £18 million has also been provided for the development of a Community Diagnostic Centre to support the creation of a digitally enabled estate.