Latest NHS News

Helen Pitts shares a video walk-though of the new Manage vaccinations in schools (Mavis) service, which helps those involved in school vaccinations handle the challenging logistics of vaccinating hundreds of children in a single day. Manage vaccinations in schools (shortened to Mavis) is a digital service we're building to support vaccination providers around the country, so that they’re easier to manage and more effective. Vaccination providers visit schools to deliver vaccinations to hundreds of children in a single day. This can require a great deal of planning, preparing, and coordination. 

Frankie and Mike explain why we revived the NHS prototype kit, the benefits of prototyping in code and how digital teams in the NHS can get started using it. The NHS prototype kit was first developed in 2019 to make it easier for digital teams to rapidly design and test new digital services. It was inspired by the GOV.UK Prototype Kit and builds on the legacy of open-source public-sector design tools in the UK.

Joe and Pete explain the greater emphasis being placed on digital patient messaging across the NHS and the potential to provide a more seamless experience for patients, reduce the number of missed appointments and save the NHS money.  This week, the Secretary of State announced the start of our journey to becoming a "digital first NHS" – here is what it means for you. In other aspects of our lives, it's second nature to receive messages digitally. Think online bank statements, email receipts for our online shopping or text messages confirming our home deliveries have arrived. But for various reasons, the NHS has found this challenging, and we still send out millions of letters to patients each year.

Ryan Lee explains how our Threat Operations team use a unique network of intelligence and techniques to detect advanced cyber threats before they can cause harm – and what everyone working in the NHS should do to help. If you worked for the NHS 10 years ago, you would have heard cyber security spoken about quite differently. It was often seen as an IT issue, lumped into conversations about software updates and internet usage. Now, cyber is rightly understood to be a patient safety issue. As the cyber threat has become more sophisticated, so has our cyber security approach for the NHS. We have evolved significantly in recent years in response to the growing threat. My team’s specialist work in threat operations is one example of this, and just one part of our central cyber security defence approach.

Karol Kuczera and Max Marulli De Barletta reflect on their visit to Google’s Accessibility Discovery Centre and how inclusive technology can enable more equitable access to health, education and broader social participation. In today’s NHS, digital tools are central to how we deliver care, share information, and empower people to manage their health. But for those facing barriers to access – whether through disability, language or low digital confidence – these tools can just as easily widen inequalities as reduce them.