‘Centralise tech procurement’ says 10-Year Plan advisory group

Ministers have been told to “centralise” decisions on – and purchasing of – NHS technology by one of the groups drawing up the 10-Year Health Plan, HSJ  has learned.

A late draft report from the government’s data and technology working group, seen by HSJ, says that “rather than being totally devolved to local health and care systems”, technology and data should be “a more centralised service”.

It calls for local tech deployment to be guided by new “national frameworks linked with [a] technology blueprint”.

Currently, technology procurement is led by integrated care boards and trusts, which choose which digital systems and products they wish to deploy. 

But the data and technology working group said this was leading to misaligned strategy and disjointed local systems.

The report says: “The decentralised structure of the health and care system means that local organisations operate independently, decision-making authority is often contested, and various special interests have considerable influence.

“When procurement decisions are not aligned with overarching policies and standards, they contribute to infrastructure diversity and result in numerous legacy systems that lack interoperability. This significantly hinders the realisation of a unified vision for services.”

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Source: HSJ, 18 March 2025