The applied learning opportunity: Making data and AI skills attainable for the NHS (HSJ, 15 April 2025)

Summary

Lord Darzi’s review into the future of the NHS  calls for a “tilt towards technology” to unlock greater productivity.

But there’s a hard reality: many parts of the NHS aren’t yet ready to take advantage of what tech has to offer. Meaning, there’s a missed opportunity for trusts to streamline operations and transform care.

Only one in five NHS organisations are considered “digitally mature”. And despite lots of progress in the last decade, there are still areas of the NHS relying on paper and non-digital processes.

It makes embracing new technologies, such as AI, feel like an unattainable goal – one that goes beyond moving the health service from analogue to digital.

As we enter this new era for the NHS, data and digital skills across the workforce will be fundamental to improving patient care, streamlining processes, and making cost savings.