How can the NHS sustain digital progress at a time when expectations are rising, but structures and resources are under strain? This question was the focus of the second edition in NHS SBS’s Futureproofing the NHS webinar series: “Digital transformation under pressure: Sustaining momentum amidst NHS reorganisation.”
The session, chaired by Raine Pell (Marketing and Communications Director at NHS SBS), brought together Heather Barton-Jones (UiPath), Pritesh Mistry (The King’s Fund), and Fiz Yazdi (Sopra Steria Next) to explore how digital ambitions in the 10-Year Health Plan can be realised despite the turbulence of restructuring and challenging budgets.
The central message? Digital transformation succeeds only when it is built around people. Technology can unlock capacity, streamline processes and free up clinicians’ time, but only if staff and patients are brought along, systems are reliable, and value is measured in outcomes rather than cost alone.
Five key insights
- Design with the workforce in mind
Pritesh Mistry pointed out that staff frustrations with everyday technology, from systems that crash to having 20 separate logins, undermine trust in digital change. He argued that reliability and user experience must come first. The panel agreed that digital services should be co-created with staff rather than imposed on them, allowing for local freedom within a national framework. - Technology and care should go hand in hand
For Fiz Yazdi, digital transformation must focus on more than just efficiency. Patients value the “tender moments of care” that they remember, not just the devices they use. She gave the example of heart patients trialling home monitoring wearables who stopped using them when no clinician followed up. Heather Barton-Jones reinforced this with additional examples: 56 clinical hours per day released for care at Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (by digitising consent), and Ireland’s HSE delivering 800k hours of capacity through automation of tasks. The message was clear: digitisation should give time back to care, for both staff and patients. - Procure based on overall value, not just the sticker price
Heather Barton-Jones warned that the NHS must move beyond procurement focused on the lowest cost. She argued for a value-based approach that considers total cost of ownership, time-to-value, and measurable outcomes. With technology advancing rapidly, a three-year procurement process risks becoming obsolete before it is completed. The 10-Year Health Plan acknowledges this challenge, noting that the NHS has “focused too much on lowest cost, rather than best value and outcomes.” - Corporate services are a safe space for innovation
The panel agreed that corporate functions, such as HR, finance, and procurement, are ideal proving grounds for digital change. Because they are not clinically facing, the risk level is lower, which means improvements can be implemented more quickly and benefits can be shown sooner. Host, Raine Pell, pointed to Norfolk & Waveney ICS’s shared finance and procurement platform, which now generates 94% of purchase orders automatically, a case study in how collective action can drive efficiency without compromising service quality. - Redesign work, not just systems
Pritesh Mistry stressed that new tools reshape roles and processes. It’s not simply about putting technology in place and assuming it will work, but about fundamentally transforming how work is done. Heather Barton-Jones added that in corporate services, the real opportunity lies in redesigning work so that technology takes on routine tasks while humans focus on what adds value. This requires moving away from the message that “a new system is coming for your job” towards one of empowerment.
What the panel showed us
The discussion made clear that reorganisation does not need to stall digital progress. It sharpens the need to protect digital projects as enablers of the 10-Year Plan. The NHS cannot afford to view technology as a bolt-on or a luxury; it is fundamental to creating capacity, improving staff experience, and reshaping patient care.
Heather Barton-Jones put it succinctly: “The NHS is standing at a moment of possibility… the shift is from fear of replacement to empowerment and opportunity.”
Watch the full webinar
Catch the complete 60-minute discussion or explore highlights in our long read:
Watch the recording : NHS SBS Roundtables
Register for our next session
Join us for the third event in our Futureproofing the NHS series: “Data as infrastructure – the foundation for NHS transformation.” Building on today’s conversation, we will explore how better use of data can underpin everything from workforce planning to patient outcomes.
Sign up here to continue the conversation on how corporate services can underpin transformation across the health system.
