NHS Shared Business Services has brought together senior leaders from across health, government, policy and industry to explore the challenges and opportunities presented by the government’s three major shifts for the NHS: hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention.

Starting with a series of roundtable discussions examining the operational, financial and technological foundations needed to support lasting reform, our work draws on perspectives from leaders responsible for delivering change across the health system.

These conversations, evidence and insights gathered informed our groundbreaking analysis, Futureproofing the NHS: The case for transforming corporate services for innovation and productivity.

In summer 2026, we will be publishing primary research detailing the size of the prize, and the opportunity now open to the NHS.

There is a clear message: delivering the NHS’s ambitions will depend not only on clinical transformation, but also on strengthening the operational infrastructure that supports it.

The NHS does not lack ambition. It lacks consistent operational foundations at the scale required to turn ambition into delivery. This paper sets out the case and the practical path forward.