Five-year strategic commissioning plan reveals ambitions for shared care records, AI, remote monitoring at Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB
Publishing their five-year strategic commissioning plan in line with the NHS England medium-term planning requirements, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB has shared ambitions for shared care records, AI, remote monitoring, data, digital diagnostics, and more. For electives and diagnostics, the ICB notes ambitions to incorporate digital pathway optimisation, increased use of remote monitoring, and strengthened digital interoperability to allow for results from Community Diagnostic Centres to flow seamlessly into primary and secondary care systems. The Care Coordination Centre will play a central role in digital transformation, it continues, by taking responsibility for this interoperability and the transfer of patients into the right services at the right time. For long-term condition care, the focus will be on the expanded use of remote monitoring, virtual consultations, and data-driven insights, including the use of remote clinical tools like digital blood pressure monitoring to help patients self-manage at home. Across all pathways, digital solutions will support earlier intervention, improve care continuity, and reduce duplication, including digital triage and access to online information.
My NHS GP will be delivered to use AI-enabled triage and data-driven clinical pathways in primary care, whilst patients will be given a single digital space to manage all appointments, referrals, diagnostics, and communications, and ambient voice tech will be deployed to reduce admin burden and free-up clinical time. By 2031, the ICBs outline ambitions to have expanded the Shared Care Record, integrated it with the NHS App, and deployed the FDP to provide “real-time, linked datasets across health and social care”. Data sharing arrangements will be strengthened, system analytical capability and competence will be developed, outcome dashboards and predictive analytics tools will be rolled out, and population health management tools will strengthen system-wide intelligence. Data architecture, co-designed digital solutions, automation of repetitive tasks, virtual wards, and cyber security will also be areas of focus.
Strategic commissioning plan for Leicestershire and Northamptonshire ICBs notes digital to transform population health, neighbourhood health, and prevention
Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB and Northamptonshire ICB’s latest five-year strategic commissioning plan to 2031 highlights the move from short-term recovery to longer-term transformation, outlining the role of digital and data in areas such as population health, neighbourhood health, and prevention. The ICBs also share that a new digital and data strategy is expected in September 2026, with a data quality strategy to follow by March 2027. Core commissioning ambitions include improving access and flow for elective care, urgent and emergency care, and neighbourhoods, the ICBs state, modernising pathways, reducing variation, and relying on digital connectivity and shared care records to help deliver care closer to home. Digital and data literacy will be enhanced across the workforce to support a “digital by default” approach to commissioning, and digital tools and real-time data will help promote proactive care.
Under the neighbourhood model, the ICBs commit to increasing access to digital tools to support people, putting in place shared digital records and interoperable systems to enable better integration, and providing a single point of access for service navigation and triage. Given the variations in digital maturity and capability that exist across providers, the commissioning approach is designed to prioritise the development of strong, shared digital foundations. Digital will be embedded within commissioning intentions and business cases, ensuring digital requirements are identified early in the pathway design process, and with “active involvement” from digital and data leads. Better use will be made of linked data to inform commissioning, evaluate impact, and support population health management, according to the ICBs. Priority cohorts will be identified with segmentation and risk stratification approaches, variation in data quality and information sharing will be addressed, and digital inclusion and accessibility will be required considerations in service specifications. From a funding perspective, the ICBs plan to incorporate digital funding within pathway redesign and service transformation, using business cases to articulate digital dependencies and risks, and prioritising solutions that offer benefits for commissioning and population health.
Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire ICB shares five-year strategic commissioning and population health improvement plan
The Derby & Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, and Nottingham & Nottinghamshire (DLN) ICB cluster has published a five-year strategic commissioning and population health improvement plan, detailing the role of digital in supporting system ambitions to 2031. DLN notes a “decisive shift” from traditional commissioning to a “should cost/should deliver” model with focuses on the three shifts toward prevention, care closer to home, and digital. High-level focuses include the provision of remote monitoring and virtual care options, the use of population health data to target support, joined-up information across partners to support care, and modern digital access routes such as the NHS App. Digital and data systems and approaches will be modernised, it continues, and headline deliverables cover the shared care record, NHS App, Federated Data Platform, and AI and automation.
By 2031, all referrals will be made using standardised digital referral systems, reducing paper referrals by 25 percent, DLN shares. Primary care providers use of technology for digital triage and ambient voice will have been optimised, digital maturity and resilience will be improved system-wide, and interoperable health records and shared care records will have been embedded with >90 percent of GP practices sharing records with neighbourhood teams and >75 percent of health, local government and VCSE connected. Digital referral, triage, and advice systems will have been embedded, the ICBs continue, whilst “clinically meaningful” dashboards and performance intelligence will be in routine use by leaders and those on the frontline. Digital capability will be built into neighbourhood and place-based working, and 80 percent of neighbourhoods will have a delivery plan for digital inclusion. Transformation will be accelerated through innovation, according to DLN, with new models of care, digital solutions, and transformational approaches to be readily tested and scaled. Here, the ICBs note that they will “balance ambition with assurance” to enable innovation and deliver measurable impact, resulting in faster transformation, improved productivity, and more responsive services for communities.
Green Plan from Coventry and Warwickshire ICB sets out ten digital transformation objectives to 2028
Coventry and Warwickshire ICB’s latest green plan has been published, listing ten digital transformation objectives and a timeline for their delivery to 2028. In 2026, all new digital supplier contracts will include sustainability criteria, requiring carbon reporting and alignment with NHS Net Zero targets; and 100 percent of trusts will have completed a Digital Maturity Assessment, focusing on identifying sustainability improvements. The ICB also hopes to explore the implementation of a “PC power down” pilot scheme by October 2026. December 2026 is the deadline given for exploring the potential to migrate NHS-hosted digital services to more environmentally friendly options, with Coventry and Warwickshire’s board looking to audit existing digital hosting providers and consider opportunities for low-carbon cloud services or green datacentres. The same deadline is offered for a reduction in paper usage by promoting digital approaches, virtual consultations, digital letters, and use of the NHS App. High paper-use processes will be identified, and digitised where clinically safe, the ICB continues.
Black Country ICB notes need to be ambitious around digital shift
Black Country ICB has shared a series of digital updates around its work across digital and data, including AI, shared care records, a digital strategy refresh, and the secondary use of data. Results from the ICB’s latest digital maturity assessment were discussed, with the board noting that “the ICB has a central position in terms of both the Midlands region and the whole of the NHS”. A working group is now being set up to produce an action plan, and outcomes will be worked into the ICS’s digital strategy, which is due to be refreshed. A vision, a set of principles, and a high-level milestone plan have been agreed for the Black Country IT Service. Leads have been identified from across the system for different tasks to help promote ownership from partners, and focus areas include the alignment of contracts and infrastructure, proposals for a single IT service, cyber, digital inequalities, digital sustainability, and AI.
On work on bids for NHSE capital funding, the ICB shares: “We have been clear in that to articulate 10-year plans for digital transformation is virtually impossible.” Plans have been submitted covering the continued growth of the shared care record, digitising social care, aspirational AI, AI dictation, upskilling staff in AI, e-triage UEX, digital data transformation, digitising pathology, community EPR, and data warehousing. The One Health and Care Shared Care Record programme is supporting the delivery of joined-up data from across the ICS, the board highlights, to inform clinical decision-making and planning. “There is a responsibility to apply for a section 251 in order for the data in the shared care record to be used for secondary purposes i.e. PHM & analysis,” it notes. That application is now recorded as having been submitted.
Digital inclusion delivery framework for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB outlines priority themes and roadmap to 2030
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB’s Digital Inclusion Delivery Framework has outlined a “bold and unified vision” for tackling digital inclusion, based around five themes: connectivity and access to devices and data; digital accessibility and information literacy; workforce digital skills and confidence; partnerships; and digital inclusion knowledge and expertise. The ICB commits to using analytics to better understand digital inclusion barriers and gaps, both in the workforce and wider population. User-centred design and co-production will inform all digital projects to ensure accessibility and usability, and a focus will be placed on those experiencing the greatest health inequalities. Improved digital connectivity and accessible public services will add to economic prosperity and social equity, it continues, and clear and inclusive communication will help improve understanding of digital health capabilities and benefits.
By March 2027, all organisations across the system will have a digital inclusion action plan in place and collaborations will have begun with external partners on building workforce expertise, the ICB’s roadmap shares. By 2030, the ICB hopes to explore options for device hubs in community settings, consider options for device recycling to support local communities, map the digital support landscape, have in place tiered approaches to digital skills development, and become a “national exemplar” for digital inclusion.
Joint Birmingham and Solihull ICB and Black Country ICB cluster board agrees on digital first for integrated pathways as one of six strategic anchors to guide decision-making
A joint meeting of the Birmingham and Solihull ICB and Black Country ICB cluster board has agreed upon six strategic anchors to guide decision-making, with digital first for integrated pathways being one of the areas of focus to be highlighted. According to the board, this will cover priorities including driving the adoption of NHS App capabilities and digital triage; embedding implementation of remote monitoring, patient-initiated follow-up, and AI-assisted access; and the Federated Data Platform. Success will be measured through the percentage of pathways including digital triage and with the adoption of NHS App features, it continues.
Digital in Coventry and Warwickshire ICB and Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB cluster’s five-year strategic commissioning plan
Coventry and Warwickshire ICB and Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB have highlighted the role of digital in the ICB cluster’s five-year strategic commissioning plan. The ICBs look to embrace the shift from analogue to digital through clinically-led digital transformation, the targeted use of AI to drive efficiency in clinical pathways and especially in assessment processes, and scaled use of tech investments like the NHS App and Shared Care Record. The ICBs further commit to delivering the right digital infrastructure, enabling integration and automation of data and systems, and increasing the number of self-serve solutions. Collaboration will also be pursued with providers around reducing the administrative burden.
