Digital Innovation in the NHS: Exploring the New Ten Year Plan with Hatim Abdulhussein

In this episode I speak with Hatim Abdulhussein about the NHS’s new Ten Year Plan and what it means for digital transformation, innovation, and workforce development. Hatim is a practicing GP, CEO of Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex, and Honorary Professor of Innovation and AI at the University of Surrey. We begin with Hatim’s career journey, from his early experiences with digital systems as a junior doctor to leading national programmes on digital, AI, and robotics in health education, and now his current leadership role at a regional health innovation network. Hatim explains the essential function of Health Innovation Networks: there are 15 across England, each working to identify, test, and scale innovations that address the NHS’s biggest challenges and support economic growth within their regions. We then turn to the new Ten Year Plan. Hatim highlights the three main shifts set out in the plan: moving from analog to digital, hospital to community, and sickness to prevention. He notes that while the plan is ambitious, it draws many ongoing conversations and sets out practical mechanisms for change, such as development of the NHS app, a single patient record, and more ambitious use of AI.We discuss the challenges of implementation, touching on the lessons from past national IT efforts, the importance of flexible policy, the need for clear national and regional roles, and how ringfenced digital funding will help build momentum. Hatim also shares thoughts on what should be standardised on a national or regional level, and where providers and local champions should have autonomy to innovate and test new ideas.Finally, I ask Hatim to look ahead to 2035. We discuss the potential impact of a truly shared single patient record, and the ways AI could ease administrative burdens for clinicians. Hatim’s boldest bet for the future is the genuine shift of care from acute hospitals to the community that is powered by technology, for the benefit of patients and the wider health system.I hope you find this episode a useful and balanced overview of where NHS digital transformation is headed, what’s realistic, and what challenges and opportunities lie ahead.If people want to find out more about Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex and see some examples of otheir role in finding, testing and implementing innovation in action: Annual review 2024-25 - Health Innovation Kent Surrey SussexIf you found this episode informative, don't forget to leave a review and share your thoughts. Thank you for tuning in!The Digital Ecology Podcast is part of the Talking HealthTech Podcast Network, your go-to audio destination for the latest in healthcare delivery, innovation, digital health, healthcare ICT, and commercialisation. Discover more at talkinghealthtech.com/podcast/network.

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