The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change is urging for a rapid implementation of digital health records for all UK citizens within five years.
In their report titled ‘Preparing the NHS for the AI era, a digital health record for every citizen‘, released on 19 August 2024, the institute emphasizes the importance of person-centred health records in driving enhancements to health and care services. The aim is to transform healthcare from being solely treatment-focused to a more preventative approach, ensuring readiness for the era of artificial intelligence.
The institute advocates for government commitment to establish a digital health record for every citizen within one parliamentary term, utilizing existing initiatives and advocating for new legislation to address data ownership and interoperability issues.
The proposed digital health records would centralize the personal health data of individuals, allowing them to share this information with selected third parties. The report envisions these records as a reliable source of truth for healthcare data, separate from various applications.
Highlighting the current fragmented storage of health data across different healthcare providers and devices, the institute argues that a unified citizen health record would serve as a foundational element in modernizing the healthcare system.
Emphasizing the impact on primary care, the report suggests that an integrated, digital health record would greatly benefit healthcare services outside of hospitals.
Citing international examples from countries like Estonia, India, the US, Israel, and Spain, the report underlines the importance of comprehensive digital health records in improving healthcare systems and services.
Addressing challenges in the UK’s current landscape of digital health records, the report acknowledges previous struggles in creating integrated care records, often hindered by privacy concerns.
Recommendations include legislative measures to enhance interoperability standards and data sharing practices among healthcare providers. The report also calls for a dedicated unit within the Department of Health and Social Care to spearhead the development of the digital health records.
At a conference held by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, Health Secretary Wes Streeting pledged to position Britain as a leader in life sciences and medical technology, emphasizing the importance of embracing advancements in healthcare data systems.
Building on previous recommendations, the institute aims to establish a new public-private NHS data trust to leverage anonymized medical records for the advancement of biotech, AI, and patient treatments.
