Highlights from the third panel in our ‘Futureproofing the NHS’ webinar series
Clinical data gets the headlines, but it’s operational data, covering workforce, finance and procurement, that could help the NHS anticipate problems before patients feel the impact. This was the focus of the third event in NHS SBS’s ‘Futureproofing the NHS’ webinar series titled ‘Data as infrastructure – the foundation for NHS transformation.’
The session, chaired by Raine Pell (Executive Director of Marketing and Communications at NHS SBS), brought together Cassie Smith from Health Data Research UK, Jake Arnold-Forster of Carradale Futures and Rob Walker from techUK to explore how the 10 Year Health Plan‘s ambitions for data can be realised.
The central message? The barriers to better data use are less about technology than about trust, consistency and the courage to do things differently.
Five key points from the panel
1. Build trust through transparency and dialogue
Cassie Smith warned that without trust, even the most sophisticated data infrastructure will fail. The panel agreed that the NHS needs genuine two-way dialogue with staff and the public about how operational data is used. Jake Arnold-Forster argued that greater visibility of NHS performance data can itself build confidence, even when the picture is uncomfortable: “A lot of the answers, or at least a lot of the questions that we need to ask, are hidden in data sets about operational performance which need to get out there.” His message was: “Publish, publish, publish and keep publishing.”
2. Give patients and staff real agency over data
Rob Walker, representing techUK, pointed to a skills gap, noting that most health and social care workers “simply don’t have the capacity, training or protected time to really deeply engage with those digital tools” [edited for clarity]. He called for digital champions at board level and greater investment in workforce capability. Jake Arnold-Forster argued that the NHS also needs to rethink what data it collects, focusing less on inputs and outputs and more on processes: “How, what, when, who does the task? How long does it take them to do it? You really need to understand the processes that deliver the outcomes” [edited for clarity].
3. Procure for value
Rob Walker suggested that current procurement models can incentivise the lowest price rather than long-term value. He called for flexible, modular contracts that enable innovation throughout the framework’s lifecycle. Jake Arnold-Forster added that the NHS should diversify its ecosystem by releasing non-identifiable operational data to SMEs, researchers and civil society who can carry out analysis, build new tools and drive improvement.
4. Change management and culture matter as much as technology.
Rob Walker was clear: “Any digital project is only as successful as its change management project and programme.” Raine Pell suggested that aligning user experience with staff expectations and experiences from their digital lives outside work could make this easier. She supported the point that the workforce needs to see the impact of new systems by sharing a specific example. In one trust, workforce data predicted, with 95% accuracy, which staff were at risk of leaving, enabling preventive action before the problem affected patients.
5. Standardise and professionalise data governance.
Cassie Smith noted that accessing linked health data can require hundreds of pages of paperwork across multiple organisations. “We know what good governance is. But we need to do it once,” she said. Jake Arnold-Forster agreed: “Unwarranted variation is the biggest cause of avoidable harm and waste in healthcare, by far.” Cassie advocated strongly for specialised career paths for information governance professionals, to enable a more balanced approach to risk and opportunity.
What the panel showed us
The discussion made clear that the NHS cannot realise its digital ambitions without treating operational data as infrastructure. This means building public trust, giving patients and staff agency, reforming procurement, investing in change management and professionalising data governance.
Cassie Smith captured the shift in mindset that is needed: “At HDR UK, we actually say that the data itself is critical national infrastructure. So, a mindset of treating the data itself as infrastructure, and not just the systems that house it, will really help us kick-start our efforts towards data use for the 10 Year Plan.”
