Six ways the NHS can become the UK’s greatest testbed for technology innovation
The UK has reached a critical inflection point in its digital journey. Over $40 billion in fresh commitments from global technology leaders such as Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, Salesforce, and OpenAI, signals confidence in the UK’s ability to become a global hub for tech innovation.
But attracting investment is only the first part of the journey, the real challenge is turning that capital into meaningful, sustainable transformation. Where do we test these investments at scale? Where can we prove that new technologies can be adopted and embedded into everyday life?
The answer is the NHS, the world’s largest integrated health system, and a proving ground where new digital solutions meet the realities of scale, complexity, and public trust. If innovation can work here, it can work anywhere, demonstrating world-class digital transformation inside the NHS can send a powerful signal to global markets about the strength of UK technology.
There are six priorities that would turn the NHS into the UK’s flagship testbed for innovation and which, if done correctly, can determine whether the UK becomes a leader in digital innovation or falls behind faster-moving competitors.
1.
Enforce common standards
Every NHS clinician has a story to tell of wasted time navigating numerous incompatible systems. A good way to end this struggle is by enforcing common measures such as the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standards, SNOMED CT clinical coding, and procurement rules that reward interoperability. The result is a reliable system that talks to each other securely and at scale.
Doing this in healthcare will set a world-class benchmark for interoperability and every UK start-up building to NHS specifications will effectively build to a global standard. This creates a superdome of UK health tech exports and unlocking new international markets.
2.
Invest in core infrastructure
To improve NHS interoperability depends on strong digital foundations, but many NHS trusts still run outdated systems that cannot connect with each other. Every hospital, GP surgery, and community clinic needs fast, stable internet and reliable hardware to operate at its highest level. Without the essentials, no number of digital tools will improve workflows. Investing in cloud-based platforms, fast networks, and reliable hardware is essential to enable data sharing, reduce errors, and improve safety.
Expanding programmes like the Federated Data Platform can also link local systems while allowing trusts to keep control of their information. This gives these trusts access to national insights without hindering any of the autonomy of their data.
3.
Build a national “digital spine”
A “digital spine” – a single, secure health record that follows every patient from GP to hospital to community care – could act as the central nervous system of NHS data. Instead of juggling multiple logins and disconnected systems, clinicians would be able to see the same up-to-date information. By building on existing tools like the NHS App and Summary Care Record, this approach could reduce duplication, delays, and risks when it comes to delivering care.
Role-based access would ensure that the right information is available to the right person at the right time, creating a connected system where patients move seamlessly across care settings.
We could see this system becoming a blueprint that expands beyond healthcare, as a well trusted digital backbone for all UK public services, from education to welfare. With enough precision to this system, it could even become an exportable model that demonstrates the UK’s leadership in governance, technology, and security for national services.
4.
Invest in workforce training and culture
Front-line staff must be engaged in designing solutions that work for them, while digital leadership roles such as CCIOs and CNIOs should be expanded to champion adoption locally. Changing culture is the hardest step, but it is also the one with the highest pay-off: a workforce that embraces technology, rather than resisting change due to lack of information. Together, these measures foster a culture that embraces technology, improves patient care, and ensures that digital initiatives are effectively implemented and sustained across the NHS.
However, technology only works if people know how to use it. This involves workforce training, equipping clinicians with skills to use new systems and understand data-sharing and patient safety benefits. Upskilling the NHS’s 1.4 million-strong workforce in digital skills not only improves patient care, but also creates one of the world’s largest digitally literate workforces.
5.
Strengthen governance and incentives
With innovation comes the matter of trust and creating an environment where employees can work without fear of crossing policy lines. The best solution is strong and clear governance and incentives to improve digital interoperability, as well as transparent patient consent models. These must sit at the heart of digital transformation, so individuals understand and control how their data is shared. Progress on interoperability should be linked to funding allocations to encourage adoption across the NHS and ensuring that the right behaviours are rewarded.
Cybersecurity must also be treated as a first-order priority to accompany this, with lessons learned from events like the 2017 WannaCry attack. Both measures can ensure that digital systems are safe and effectively integrated, promoting patient confidence and supporting the NHS’s broader digital transformation goals set out in the recent 10-Year Plan. If we can demonstrate resilience at NHS scale, the UK will prove itself as a leader in safe, secure, and ethical technology deployment.
6.
Partnership on NHS terms
Lastly, the NHS must harness industry innovation while avoiding vendor lock-in and maintaining control. Open APIs and innovation sandboxes can help start-ups and SMEs test new solutions in a safe, controlled environment and scale them quickly. This approach creates a healthy competitive ecosystem that avoids vendor lock-in, accelerates adoption, and helps smaller healthcare firms prove their ideas within the NHS to then take them to the world.
As a result, technological innovation continues to thrive, patient care improves, and the NHS can adopt cutting-edge digital tools without being dependent on the right timing or on a single provider.
A moment of opportunity
The NHS is not just a healthcare system, but a national asset that can supercharge the UK’s digital economy. This latest $40 billion investment in UK technology can deliver real change – but this begins by addressing these core priorities. In so doing, the NHS can become the ultimate testbed for innovation without hindering any current operations or progress.
We have the investment, we’ve always had the talent. Now, we must prove we can deliver, not just for the UK health service, but for the world.
About the author
Seasoned CIO and British Computer Society Fellow, Richard Corbridge is an experienced digital leader, recognised as a transformative technology leader by the Global CIO Forum Committee for his merits and achievements.
