A Stone Age Shock for the Digital Future of the NHS

In one of London's largest hospitals, doctors face the pitfalls of the digital age daily—or rather, the lack thereof. The computer in the children's ward, essential for managing patient data, is not connected to a printer. This situation forces the doctors to embark on a small odyssey: the data must first be sent via NHS emails and then printed on another device. This procedure leads a pediatrician to resignedly observe, "Sometimes I feel like we're in the Stone Age." The digital transformation of the National Health Service (NHS)—the goal of Health Minister Wes Streeting and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer—faces comprehensive challenges. The current lack of technological equipment in different regions does not yet reflect the healthcare sector's pioneering role in digitalization. According to reports, only 20 percent of NHS organizations are "digitally mature." While 90 percent of electronic patient records already exist, seamless connectivity is often lacking. A startling consequence of this fragmentation: doctors lose 13.5 million working hours annually due to inadequate IT infrastructure. A situation that can also turn into serious patient safety risks, as the head of the Patient Oversight Board warns: issues with system interoperability have led to misidentifications and delayed diagnoses. The investment gaps are glaring: according to studies, the UK has invested less in health technologies than other leading European countries, making the system the UK employer with the largest IT backlog. Professor Harold Thimbleby compares the digital revolution in the NHS to the complexity of space projects—only with the right "rockets" and "engineers" can the ambitious goal be achieved.