NHS Digital has signed a four-year, £40 million deal with IBM to support the digital transformation of screening services.
The company will provide the relevant digital services for the National Screening Programme, taking in consultancy, software development and support.
While the contract notice has just been published, NHSX – before its recent move into the transformation directorate of NHS England – outlined the transformation as an effort to develop a modern technical infrastructure for screening services and to update the technology used.
This covers the use of tech to identify who is eligible for screening at a particular time, managing participants through the process and tracking outcomes data.
The programme has been structured into two workstreams: an interim programme to quickly replace the existing call and recall service; and a strategic delivery programme to transform screening on a targeted and population-wide basis.
Re-use and reconfiguration
NHSX has said that, wherever possible, this will involve the re-use or reconfiguration of modules such as those developed by the Government Digital Service.
Many legacy IT platforms used in screening are not connected to others, which undermines the efficiency of the processes and makes it difficult for researchers to conduct studies.
Ensuring interoperability is one of the key elements of the programme for IBM to address, along with modernising contact channels, improving user experiences, increasing agility and ensuring that no-one is left behind.
