Revolutionising Patient Care | The Role of AI, Digital Health Records and Ecosystems in the Future of the NHS

Tony Blair Institute for Global Change Report on ‘Preparing the NHS for the AI Era’ calls for innovation in AI, Digital Health Records and a more connected health system.

We are just past midway through the new government's first 100 days in power, and already speculation about the future of healthcare is rife. In discussion with NHS Execs, a number of key questions come to mind, including: What will this new era bring in terms of healthcare innovation? How will AI and the digitisation of health records impact our approaches to supporting elective services? And most importantly, how will the shift towards primary care absorbing more demand unfold?

These questions are at the heart of the ongoing transformation in our healthcare system – and reflect insights explored in the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) paper, “Preparing the NHS for the AI Era: A Digital Health Record for Every Citizen”. At its core, the report speaks to the crucial role of AI, digital health records and primary care in addressing demand and patient care across multiple pathways. The report’s contributors, including Sanius Health’s Vincent Sai, underscore the understanding that we need a fundamental shift in how we approach the elective backlog, the role of Digital Health Records (DHR) in creating truly patient-centric systems and improving overall healthcare delivery.

The TBI report speaks to the consensus that we need a compelling roadmap for transformation: a shift towards prevention rather than just treatment, greater utilisation of primary and community care to relieve pressure on secondary services, and harnessing the potential of Digital Health Records (DHRs). Most crucially, it emphasises the need to better use the vast population and community health insights we already have to improve clinical care, ensure operational efficiency, and drive research into new treatments and diagnostics.

Against this backdrop of change and possibility, the paper has ignited vital discussions about the future of healthcare in the UK. As an organisation deeply invested in the evolution of our health system, the Sanius Health team is reflecting on the paper's key points and its implications for strengthening our healthcare services, particularly in the realm of elective recovery efforts.

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Preparing the NHS for the Future Means Unpicking Learnings from Primary Care

Before the election, the NHS aimed to reduce the number of people waiting more than 52 weeks for elective care to around 220,000 by March 2024, down from peak levels of over 400,000 in previous years. While this represents significant progress, it still means that hundreds of thousands of people are facing long waits for vital treatments. Moreover, the total waiting list for elective care in England was estimated to reach nearly 7.2 million by early 2024. This staggering figure underscores the magnitude of the task at hand.

Under this context, it has become ever more clear that primary care has an important yet largely untapped role in driving transformative change across the health landscape. Whilst its potential has long been recognised, Vincent and other contributors to the TBI paper state that there is more scope to utilise its capabilities in an elective recovery setting. A key aspect of this lies in population health and community care insights, as well as the increased digitisation of health records. In tandem, these assets are primed to provide the intelligence needed to define a single source of truth for improving pathways and patient information - from primary care and beyond.

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Reimagining Primary Care: The Sanius-Modality Blueprint for Accelerating Outpatient and Elective Services

As an example, Sanius and Modality’s Elective and Outpatient solutions demonstrate primary care’s capacity to handle more complex cases, provide more comprehensive care, and act as a more effective gatekeeper to specialist services. Approaches like these could fundamentally reshape our healthcare delivery model, positioning primary care as the linchpin in a more efficient, responsive, and patient-centred system. The question now is, can we scale these innovations across the entire primary care sector, and will policymakers provide the necessary support and resources to make this transformation a reality

Together, Sanius Health and Modality are leveraging a blended virtual outpatient and wraparound ecosystem approach to tackle many of the key issues the TBI paper addresses. We have developed efficient pathways for managing referrals without relying solely on in-person appointments, aligning perfectly with the call for digitally-enabled care pathways. This allows for the patient journey to be managed comprehensively, from initial referral to final discharge, supporting more proactive and preventative care along the way.

This approach is transforming outpatient services, reimagining the entire pathway from GP referral to discharge. Perhaps most crucially, it's designed to prevent the recurrence of waitlist backlogs, addressing one of the most pressing challenges facing our healthcare system today. By demonstrating how primary care can absorb and efficiently manage more of the demand traditionally placed on secondary care, Sanius Health and Modality are charting a course for a more resilient and responsive healthcare future.

Our work across our network of over 200+ GPs serves as an example of how primary care can evolve to not only meet the growing demands on our health system but also significantly reduce pressure on secondary care services. The integration of Digital Health Records (DHRs), AI-powered triage, and innovative care models is proving to be not just beneficial, but necessary for the future of healthcare.

Together, Sanius Health and Modality are committing to driving this transformation, focusing on improving patient outcomes, reducing waiting times, and enhancing the overall efficiency of healthcare delivery. Our work demonstrates that with the right tools and strategies, primary care can play a pivotal role in addressing some of the most pressing challenges facing our healthcare system today.

To learn more about the work Sanius Health and Modality are doing to support patients, get in touch with the team at [email protected]