Healthcare and NHS IT

IT is becoming increasingly critical for healthcare delivery. Vital initiatives such as electronic medical records, patient administration systems and telehealth are receiving growing investment in the NHS and elsewhere. Key technologies such as mobile, tablets and cloud are also essential for improving the healthcare industry with digital healthcare technology. Read the latest news about NHS IT and find resources on the broader world of healthcare IT with the news, case studies and advice in this topic section.

News 03 Jan 2024
Artificial intelligence to the front in Sweden’s National Technology Strategy

Sweden focuses in on artificial intelligence in its latest far-reaching national IT strategy Continue Reading
Feature 25 Oct 2023
Finland shows off its new 20-qubit quantum computer

Anybody who scoffs at Finland’s lofty ambitions in the field of quantum computing should remember that not only is the country home to one of Europe's most successful companies (Nokia), but it also houses Europe’s most powerful supercomputer (LUMI). Continue Reading

News 27 Dec 2018

Top 10 CIO interviews of 2018

IT leaders from across the UK and Europe shared their plans, strategies and best practice advice with Computer Weekly in 2018 Continue Reading
News 27 Dec 2018

Top 10 Middle East stories of 2018

Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 Middle East enterprise IT stories of 2018 Continue Reading
News 21 Dec 2018

Chief medical officer calls for data-driven health strategy

Health chief says data must be used to radically improve the nation’s health by 2040, using equipment such as wearable technologies Continue Reading
News 20 Dec 2018

Top 10 NHS IT stories of 2018

In 2018, the NHS celebrated its 70th birthday, NHS Digital began a huge restructure, Matt Hancock swooped in as new health secretary and the health service launched its all-singing, all-dancing app Continue Reading
News 19 Dec 2018

Top 10 Benelux IT stories of 2018

From cyber security planning to smart city initiatives, here is a selection of articles about IT developments in the Benelux countries Continue Reading
News 17 Dec 2018

NICE debuts standards to help ease NHS adoption of new technology

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is calling on the tech community to provide feedback on its plans to help NHS commissioners make better-informed technology adoption decisions Continue Reading
News 14 Dec 2018

Australia passes controversial encryption law

Arguments continue over law that requires companies to work with government agencies to ensure that encrypted communications can be read if a crime is suspected Continue Reading
News 12 Dec 2018

UKtech50 2018 – the most influential people in UK IT

Computer Weekly has announced the ninth annual UKtech50 – our definitive list of the movers and shakers in the UK IT sector Continue Reading
News 12 Dec 2018

Christmas charity appeal increases donations with cloud-based comms

St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity is using a pop-up cloud contact centre from supplier Sesui to help run its annual Christmas appeal in partnership with the BBC Continue Reading
E-Zine 11 Dec 2018

Manchester’s evolution from rag trade to digital hub

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we visit Manchester to examine the city’s expanding digital and e-commerce industry and find out the key to tech sector growth in the former home of the UK rag trade. We look at the challenges of IT security in the quantum computing age. And we talk to Bloomberg’s CTO about tech innovation, machine learning and blockchain. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
News 11 Dec 2018

Large disparity in NHS cyber skills and training spend

Despite government pledges to up cyber security spending across the NHS, there are still huge disparities in cyber security skills and spending on cyber security training, FoI requests reveal Continue Reading
Blog Post 10 Dec 2018

Airwave goodbye, hello ESN

The government recently announced plans that – despite facing delays and setbacks – a new Emergency Services Network (ESN) will be phased in from the beginning of 2019. It will replace the legacy ... Continue Reading
News 07 Dec 2018

Finnish government announces research and development ecosystem

Finland has launched an innovation ecosystem that will support IoT and AI developers amongst others Continue Reading
Opinion 06 Dec 2018

Douglas Engelbart, the forgotten hero of modern computing

Half a century ago, Douglas Engelbart demonstrated an experimental computer that laid the foundations for modern computing. His vision to use computing power to solve complex problems in all areas of human activity has become reality, but not in the way that he imagined Continue Reading
News 06 Dec 2018

UK genome sequencing project reaches 100,000 genomes goal

Health secretary hails scheme’s progress as “a major milestone in the route to the healthcare of the future” Continue Reading
News 06 Dec 2018

Software failure paralyses O2’s 4G network

O2 is racing to fix a major outage on its 4G network that has left millions of mobile subscribers without access to data services Continue Reading
News 05 Dec 2018

Australia races towards commercial quantum computing

Universities make headway in the challenge of commercialising quantum computing Continue Reading
News 04 Dec 2018

NHS email outage caused by ‘internal software issues’

NHSmail system shutdown, which saw staff locked out of their accounts, blamed on “software issues” in supplier Accenture’s internal infrastructure Continue Reading
News 30 Nov 2018

APAC healthcare providers reaping digital transformation returns

Digital transformation could potentially double the improvements in integrated care by 2020, study finds Continue Reading
Opinion 29 Nov 2018

Agile becomes mainstream

There are clear parallels between the conditions that led the IT industry to adopt agile approaches and the challenges facing business today Continue Reading
News 29 Nov 2018

Danish government launches wide-ranging digital services project

Denmark's government has launched an ambitious project to digitise and automate public services Continue Reading
News 29 Nov 2018

Health and care must prepare for a digital world, says Scotland’s digital director

Challenges include dealing with ethical questions, data and collaboration needs in a digital environment, says Scottish government’s Colin Cook Continue Reading
News 29 Nov 2018

Scottish Government and Nesta launch health data challenge

Partnership between the Scottish Government and Nesta will see funding available for innovative projects driving the use of technology to give citizens access to data and help them live healthier lives Continue Reading
Opinion 28 Nov 2018

More effective digital transformation through the power of your own people

The old model of escalating decisions up and down the management chain does not work any more. Business leaders need to delegate responsibility for projects to business and technology specialists and eliminate the fear of failure Continue Reading
News 26 Nov 2018

NHS policy leaders: value AI but get the basics right

NHS doctors and policy chiefs said at the Westminster Health Forum that artificial intelligence has untapped value for healthcare, but needs to be underpinned with discipline Continue Reading
News 21 Nov 2018

TechUK calls on Matt Hancock to fast-track NHS digitisation

The tech industry body’s ‘Manifesto for Matt’ calls on the health secretary to focus on empowering citizens, enabling a world-class workforce and making the UK the number one place for health tech innovation Continue Reading
Feature 21 Nov 2018

IBM pushes boundaries of AI, but insists companies take an ethical approach

Researchers at IBM are pushing the boundaries of what artificial intelligence and machine learning can do, but remain wary of the ethical implications that accompany the proliferation of this technology Continue Reading
News 21 Nov 2018

Citizens don’t want the NHS to prioritise digital health, report finds

The UK public want the NHS to focus spending on cancer care, staff and mental health, and rank digital access to services lowest on their list of priorities Continue Reading
News 20 Nov 2018

CIO interview: Graham Evans, CITO, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust’s chief information and technology officer talks about joining up health and care, the importance of keeping up to date with technology, and why trying to deliver perfection won’t work Continue Reading
E-Zine 20 Nov 2018

How the Science Museum is moving to the digital age

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how London’s Science Museum is dealing with legacy IT to move into the age of digital and data. We examine Nationwide Building Society’s move to cloud and DevOps to transform its operations. And we look at how technologies such as machine learning and blockchain are helping to automate global supply chains. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
Feature 16 Nov 2018

Securing the SD-WAN: The next network challenge

Every time an enterprise weighs up whether or not to try SD-WAN, security is an essential part of the picture Continue Reading
News 14 Nov 2018

Non-invasive, AI-powered cardiac test spreads through NHS with help of government funding

A cardiac test powered by artificial intelligence has the potential to save the UK’s health service hundreds of pounds per heart patient Continue Reading
News 13 Nov 2018

5G will unleash digital transformation for UK enterprises

Mobile operator EE is working hand-in-hand with its largest enterprise customers to realise the potential of its future 5G mobile network Continue Reading
News 12 Nov 2018

NHS issues guidance for instant messaging use in acute settings

As NHS staff are increasingly turning to messaging apps to communicate with each other, the government issues guidance saying only tools meeting the NHS encryption standard should be used Continue Reading
Blog Post 09 Nov 2018

The public sector culture issue

Despite senior government and public sector officials often banging on about the importance of transparency and openness, in reality, it’s almost a cultural taboo for civil servants or anyone else ... Continue Reading
News 08 Nov 2018

Welsh NHS IT programme is ‘outdated’ and could put patients at risk, report finds

Welsh Public Accounts Committee is concerned the country’s outdated NHS IT systems are putting patients at risk, and found the culture at NHS Wales Informatics Service is the ‘antithesis of open’ Continue Reading
News 08 Nov 2018

Plymouth’s Derriford Hospital has capacity to spare after HSCN upgrade

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust is unleashing the potential of digital for health after fixing up its internet connectivity with an upgrade to the new Health and Social Care Network Continue Reading
News 07 Nov 2018

BEIS to fund five healthcare AI innovation centres

Five healthcare innovation centres will receive a total of £50m in funding to use artificial intelligence to improve diagnosis and treatment of diseases Continue Reading
News 06 Nov 2018

Automation and CSR are driving reskilling process for UK plc, says Cisco

UK business leaders are planning to make dramatic changes to their organisations between now and 2020, according to a new report from Cisco Continue Reading
News 05 Nov 2018

NHS to use predictive tech to prevent illnesses

Health secretary Matt Hancock wants to use technology to predict disease and stop people falling ill, with AI and genomics having the ‘potential to change everything’ Continue Reading
News 31 Oct 2018

IoT R&D projects missed out on £10m of government funding

A series of delays and disruption caused chiefly by changes in project ownership meant the government’s IoT UK Research and Innovation Programme failed to use a quarter of its allocated budget between 2015 and 2018 Continue Reading
News 30 Oct 2018

Budget 2018: No great leap forward for broadband, but no need to panic

The chancellor set aside £1.6bn for digital technology in the Budget, but broadband services did not draw much attention. Is this a surprise, or a reflection of growing commercial investment in full-fibre, and what should the role of government be? Continue Reading
30 Oct 2018

Interview: Matt Hancock, secretary of state for health and social care, on his NHS ‘tech vision’

Matt Hancock brings rare digital experience to running the NHS and social care systems, but can he overcome the legacy of past health service technology failures? Continue Reading
E-Zine 30 Oct 2018

Power struggle: A row is brewing over EU plans to curb datacentre energy use

In this week’s Computer Weekly, a row is brewing over an EU plan to curb datacentre energy use, and the leading server suppliers are not happy - we analyse the details. Secretary of state for health and social care Matt Hancock talks exclusively to us about his new technology vision for the NHS. And we examine the growing popularity of short-term “gig” employment for IT professionals. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
News 29 Oct 2018

O2 extends rural 4G network to 339 communities

O2 has extended its rural network roll-out, targeting over 300 small communities all over the UK Continue Reading
News 29 Oct 2018

Philips looks to artificial intelligence to train its workforce

Healthcare company is looking to AI, chatbots and learning playlists to help staff learn new skills more quickly as it adapts changing business priorities Continue Reading
News 25 Oct 2018

Firms will use AI to automate HR processes within two years

Companies are gearing up to automate HR processes with artificial intelligence and machine learning, while at the same time battling with outdated IT systems Continue Reading
News 24 Oct 2018

CityFibre backers pump £2.5bn into full-fibre broadband

Network expansion will add 27 towns and cities to CityFibre’s current roll-out to 10 locations in support of a consumer full-fibre service delivered by Vodafone Continue Reading
News 23 Oct 2018

Government pumps more funding into NHS ‘test beds’ programme

Seven new “test beds” will receive £7m to trial a range of technologies to improve patient care in the second wave of the NHS Test Beds Programme Continue Reading
Blog Post 19 Oct 2018

Can Matt Hancock be the minister that finally gets NHS technology right?

A large and toxic cloud has hung over NHS IT since the failure of the £12bn National Programme that saw billions wasted on systems that barely worked. Since then, we’ve seen the collapse of ... Continue Reading
Feature 19 Oct 2018

A new era of collaboration for the NHS

Great Ormond Street Hospital's new research and innovation unit, Drive, marks a significant shift towards greater collaboration between NHS organisations and third-party industry partners Continue Reading
News 19 Oct 2018

Interview: Matt Hancock, secretary of state for health and social care, on his NHS ‘tech vision’

Matt Hancock brings rare digital experience to running the NHS and social care systems, but can he overcome the legacy of past health service technology failures? Continue Reading
News 18 Oct 2018

Dubai Health Authority unveils virtual health app for GP consultations

Health authority adopts new technology as part of the Dubai Future Accelerators initiative Continue Reading
News 18 Oct 2018

Middle East gears up for 5G

The race for 5G is well and truly under way, and the UAE and Saudi Arabia are well positioned to be among the first countries in the world to deliver the benefits of this new telecoms protocol Continue Reading
News 18 Oct 2018

MoJ to go all-in on public cloud as infrastructure modernisation push gathers pace

The Ministry of Justice claims modernising, retiring and migrating its legacy IT systems to the public cloud will help it accrue long-term savings of around 60% on hosting costs Continue Reading
News 18 Oct 2018

Home Office ‘seriously’ considered ESN shutdown

New disclosures from those responsible for the troubled Emergency Services Network project have revealed that, contrary to previous denials, the Home Office came close to pulling the plug earlier this year Continue Reading
News 18 Oct 2018

No new funding for Hancock’s NHS tech vision

Getting the technology plan right is more about standards than money, says health and social care secretary Matt Hancock, as he explains why NHS organisations won’t be given additional funding to deliver on his vision Continue Reading
News 18 Oct 2018

NHS standards framework aims to set the bar for quality and efficiency

NHS Digital’s standards framework sets out renewed commitment to implement and use open standards across the NHS Continue Reading
News 17 Oct 2018

Hancock sets out NHS tech vision

Government will mandate national open standards for the NHS and tech suppliers, build a health and caretech ecosystem and give local NHS organisations more flexibility in how and what tech they buy Continue Reading
Feature 16 Oct 2018

GlaxoSmithKline R&D CDO on combining Hadoop and Docker to boost drug discovery efforts

Mark Ramsey, chief digital officer of research and development at GSK, describes how banking on big data, containers and on-premise technologies is speeding up the company’s efforts to uncover new drugs and improve the hit rate of its clinical trials Continue Reading
News 16 Oct 2018

Public Health England builds Ceph and Lustre cloud for analytics

Healthcare analytics and modelling organisation Public Health England built an open source cloud from Red Hat Ceph object storage and Lustre scale-out file access storage to petabyte scale Continue Reading
E-Zine 16 Oct 2018

Drilling into AI at Shell

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how oil giant Shell is using artificial intelligence and machine learning to boost workforce safety and productivity. We analyse the attempted Russian cyber attack revealed by the Dutch government. And we look at how blockchain is being used in the food and drink industry to improve supply chain management. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
News 15 Oct 2018

Cost of WannaCry attack to NHS set at £92m

Department for Health and Social Care estimates the immediate cost of the May 2017 WannaCry attack on the NHS was £92m, and says it will have spent about £275m on improvements to its cyber security infrastructure by the end of 2021 Continue Reading
News 12 Oct 2018

Research and innovation unit for healthtech opens at Great Ormond Street Hospital

Great Ormond Street Hospital’s Drive research unit is dedicated to bringing the latest technological developments into healthcare Continue Reading
News 11 Oct 2018

Robots in the workplace supported by 81% of business chiefs

Robotic process automation continues to be taken up by more organisations – but despite proven benefits, those that already use it are struggling to scale it up Continue Reading
News 10 Oct 2018

Huawei Connect 2018: Huawei tackles barriers to effective AI

At its annual customer and technology event, Huawei chairman Eric Xu set out 10 key challenges facing AI, and revealed how the networking supplier’s strategy will help to address these Continue Reading
E-Zine 09 Oct 2018

App-based self-service healthcare

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine the long-awaited mobile app from the NHS, which has started public trials, and ask what it means for a digital health service. We hear from early experimenters of blockchain to find out what it will take for the technology to be enterprise-ready. And we analyse the impact of mergers and acquisitions on corporate networks. Read the issue now. Continue Reading
News 09 Oct 2018

Tech takes centre stage in CBI’s pre-Budget wish list

Industry calls on government to set the tone for a tech-friendly business environment after the UK leaves the EU Continue Reading
News 08 Oct 2018

NHS trust uses automation and virtual workers to speed up referrals

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation trust is using intelligent automation and virtual workers to monitor and process referrals from GPs in five of its specialist clinical units Continue Reading
News 05 Oct 2018

GDPR case work swamps Denmark’s data protection agency

The agency investigating alleged breaches of GDPR in Denmark is recruiting additional resources to cope with the increase in work Continue Reading
News 05 Oct 2018

AI will boost productivity in the NHS, says digital minister

Digital minister Margot James thinks artificial intelligence could liberate NHS clinicians and boost productivity across the health service Continue Reading
News 04 Oct 2018

CIO interview: Niall Quinn, technology director, Crown Commercial Service

The Crown Commercial Service’s technology director talks about how the government’s procurement agency is working to make buying easier, drive innovation forward and shake up the public sector Continue Reading
News 03 Oct 2018

Matt Hancock plans to sequence five million genomes in five years

The health secretary aims to expand the government-funded 100,000 Genomes Project and sequence five million genomes over the next five years and roll out genomic testing across the NHS Continue Reading
News 01 Oct 2018

Launch of NHS app marks a new era

The NHS has begun piloting its coveted app, but how exactly will it work, and what does it mean for patients accessing the health service? Continue Reading
News 01 Oct 2018

UK will unilaterally tax web giants, says Hammond

Chancellor threatens to go it alone on tax reform for digital services businesses if an international agreement cannot be reached Continue Reading
News 30 Sep 2018

UKtech50 2018 – help us find the most influential people in UK IT

Computer Weekly’s annual search for the 50 most influential people in UK IT is on – let us know who you would like to nominate for this year's list Continue Reading
News 28 Sep 2018

Cyber attackers are increasingly exploiting RDP, warns FBI

Businesses should to act to reduce the likelihood of compromise from cyber attackers exploiting the remote desktop protocol, warns the FBI Continue Reading
News 26 Sep 2018

ICO threatens fines for outstanding fees

The UK’s privacy watchdog has issued warning letters to organisations, including some NHS trusts and government organisations, for failing to pay a new data protection fee Continue Reading
News 26 Sep 2018

Indian IT giant TCS sees IBM and Accenture as nearest rivals

Rapidly-growing Tata Consultancy Services has its eyes on the US IT giants, with customer service key if it is to overtake them Continue Reading
News 25 Sep 2018

NHS Digital to publish new guidance on data standards

Data could be a huge advantage for the NHS, but data quality and accessibility is still a big challenge, says NHS Digital CEO Sarah Wilkinson as she promises clear guidance on standards and interoperability Continue Reading
News 24 Sep 2018

InfoWatch opens training centre to help address Middle East skills shortage

Security supplier offers Middle East customers cyber security and digital training facility as organisations in the region struggle to equip staff with latest skills Continue Reading
News 24 Sep 2018

NHS Digital hires chief information security officer

Robert Coles will lead the health and care sector’s response to cyber attacks and help local organisations meet the government’s cyber security standards Continue Reading
News 24 Sep 2018

Phased roll-out of ESN to start in early 2019

The government will adopt a phased approach to the roll-out of the new emergency services 4G communications network Continue Reading
News 21 Sep 2018

Businesses that take humans with them on robotics journeys gain the most

Businesses that put human development at the centre of their automation strategies will profit the most Continue Reading
News 21 Sep 2018

Pharmacy2U signs up to digital communications platform

Online pharmacy aims to make it easier for people to contact them, using an omnichannel system from RingCentral allowing arrange of services, including voice, chat, text and email Continue Reading
Feature 19 Sep 2018

What are the current SD-WAN options for enterprises?

Software-defined wide area networking is well on its way to being a multi-billion dollar market. We assess the current state of the market and look at some of the options for enterprise CIOs and network managers Continue Reading
News 19 Sep 2018

Medical firm debuts internet-connected prosthetic limbs

Orthotic and prosthetic services business Hanger is trialling five connected prosthetic limbs with support from AT&T’s Foundry innovation lab Continue Reading
Feature 19 Sep 2018

Employers turn to wearable technology to help staff manage work-life balance

Companies are realising that there are sound business reasons for ensuring their employees get enough sleep and exercise, so they are turning to wearable technology to help their staff stay healthy, despite the pressures of work Continue Reading
News 18 Sep 2018

Leeds NHS trust vows to dump its fax machines by 2019

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has launched a campaign to get rid of its fax machines by January 2019 in a bid to remove paper and champion innovation Continue Reading
News 17 Sep 2018

CIO interview: Marcella Flood, head of digital transformation, Allianz Care

Insurance giant’s international healthcare division is dealing with legacy systems while working on a data-led transformation that is underpinned by standards Continue Reading
News 17 Sep 2018

ESN delays are leaching vital funds from UK police forces

Ongoing delays to the Emergency Services Network roll-out are costing the UK taxpayer £330m a year, according to the National Audit Office Continue Reading
News 14 Sep 2018

Hancock touts his support for controversial GP at Hand service

Health secretary says GP at Hand helps deliver a better service and that he wants to help the app expand across the country, as he highlights importance of embracing technology Continue Reading
News 11 Sep 2018

Health secretary launches digital platform for NHS staff

Matt Hancock hopes the digital Talk Health and Care platform will encourage staff to share their ideas and views on how to make working in the NHS better Continue Reading
News 10 Sep 2018

Can technology save our NHS?

By the technophiles, digital is seen as the holy grail that will save our NHS, but is technology the answer, and how long will it be before we have a digital NHS? Continue Reading
News 06 Sep 2018

Health secretary Matt Hancock to boost NHS IT with £200m fund

Matt Hancock will announce a £200m fund for further digital centres of excellence and plans to pilot the NHS app across England, but shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth calls the plans a “pipe dream” Continue Reading
News 06 Sep 2018

All acute NHS trusts in England now using e-referrals

NHS trusts have reached 100% uptake of NHS England’s e-referral service, ahead of October 2018 deadline Continue Reading
News 05 Sep 2018

Health minister launches code of conduct for health tech data

The code of conduct – focused around data-driven tech such as AI – aims to deepen trust between researchers, innovators, patients and clinicians, according to health minister James O’Shaughnessy Continue Reading
News 05 Sep 2018

If we don't digitise NHS, we are condemning people to die, says NHS England’s operational director

NHS England’s national director for operations, Matthew Swindells, calls for a complete overhaul of the way the NHS delivers care, claiming the current model “is not viable” Continue Reading
News 04 Sep 2018

Government confirms West Midlands to become home to UK's first large-scale 5G test bed

The government has confirmed the West Midlands will be used to carry out the UK's first large-scale test of 5G technology, with trials centred on its use in the health, construction and automotive sectors Continue Reading
Opinion 03 Sep 2018

From Aberdeen to Brighton: Investing in the UK’s digital future

More investment in the UK’s broadband infrastructure is critical to ensure the UK’s future success in technology in a post-Brexit world Continue Reading