NHS England and Improvement (NHSE&I) has launched a programme to create a unified data access layer across its range of platforms.
It has begun the alpha phase and is now looking for delivery assistance in the programme, which it said is designed to consolidate process and technology around a common platform.
The organisation is working with a legacy, partly from its history as two bodies before the merger last year, of different data platforms, techniques and approaches to data processing, which it said is duplicating effort, creating unnecessary costs and making it harder to provide insights.
There are also problems in responding to new needs from integrated care systems and in taking advantage of technologies such as advanced analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence.
NHSE&I has developed what the procurement notice describes as a tactical solution, but now needs to speed up its work for the implementation of a permanent solution. This will be aimed at supporting the work of analysts, policy officials, service managers and data governance leads.
It said the work to come will involve a strong emphasis on user experience and testing, and the avoidance of any solution bias to ensure the best approach is adopted for the future.
Image from GOV.UK, Open Government Licence v3.0
