🩸 Have your say on research shaping the future of sickle cell care and support – take part in two new Sickle Cell Society surveys.

Digital Health

Digital interventions to improve the care of people with long-term conditions, health outcomes, patient experience and healthcare efficiency

Overview

Our Digital Health Theme has delivered a comprehensive programme of applied research examining how digital technologies can improve care quality, safety, and equity across the health and social care system. Over five years, the theme has evaluated digital tools ranging from electronic decision-support systems and AI mental health platforms to remote monitoring, digital self-care, and national-scale applications such as the NHS App.

Our programme is grounded in implementation science and real-world evaluation, ensuring innovations are safe, effective, inclusive, and scalable across Integrated Care Systems (ICSs). This work supports the NHS Long Term Plan’s ambitions for digitally enabled care, prevention, personalisation, and shifting care closer to home.

Most Recent Projects (2023 - 2025)

A selection of key programmes still influencing practice:

NHS App evaluation – contribution to national digital evaluation frameworks
WYSA AI evaluation – informing ICS adoption of AI mental health solutions
Self-Care Matrix – integration into ICS prevention agendas
BP@Home – integration in hypertension pathways
Digital inclusion insights – feeding into PCN and local authority digital outreach

Theme Project Highlights

Computer screen shows 'Red flag sepsis alert'

Digital Alerting for Sepsis (DiAlS)

The Digital Sepsis Alert used real-time EHR data to flag potential sepsis cases.

Impact

14% reduction in mortality among alerted patients
Faster time-to-treatment
Reduced ICU admissions and length of stay
Recognised internationally as a model for digital clinical decision support
Scaled across multiple NHS Trusts; cited as a best-practice exemplar

Remote Monitoring: BP@Home

Evaluating home blood pressure monitoring across Northwest London.

Impact

Improved patient self-management of hypertension
Reduced GP appointment burden
Earlier detection of deterioration
Informed ICS models for remote care pathways

Image of Oximetry Monitor being used at home

Oximetry@Home (COVID-19)

Safely monitoring oxygen saturation outside of the hospital during the pandemic.

Impact

Enabled safe out-of-hospital monitoring
Provided evidence for national roll-out
Supported stratified escalation pathways

NHS APP Evaluation

A multi-year evaluation exploring uptake, equity, usability, and behaviour change.

Key Contributions

Identified patterns of digital exclusion
Supported national improvements to app design
Developed a framework for evaluating large-scale digital tools
Provided essential insights to NHS England digital transformation teams

AI for Mental Wellbeing: WYSA Evaluation

Assessing the use of AI-supported emotional health tools.

Findings

Users sought support for stress, anxiety, sleep, and low mood
AI tools improved self-efficacy and emotional resilience
Provided evidence for safe ICS adoption of AI mental health apps

Self-Care Matrix

A digital framework to classify and evaluate self-care support.

Impact

Adopted by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP)
Used across multiple national and international projects
Influenced self-care strategy development within ICSs

Digital Health Data & Analytics

In collaboration with the Information and Intelligence Theme

Research includes:

Use of WSIC and Discover-NOW data to analyse care pathways
Digital population health analytics for Cardiovascular Disease, diabetes, multimorbidity
Insights informing inequalities analyses and ICS planning

Digital Inclusion Studies

Across multiple years, NIHR ARC NWL explored:

Barriers to digital access for older adults
Digital literacy factors
Inequities in uptake of apps and portals

These findings fed into public engagement, ICS outreach, and NHS England digital inclusion strategy.

Legacy Projects

Digital Self-Care Tools

Evaluation of the Healthily symptom checker
Digital wellbeing apps (early pilots)

Digital Workforce Support

Modelling digital skill needs
Contributions to improvement capability around digital tools

COVID-19 Digital Response Work

CAPACITY-UK: digital modelling for safe large event reopening
Digital risk assessment tools
Early telehealth adoption reviews

Early Discover-NOW / HDR UK Work

Digitalisation of patient pathway optimisation
Analysis of digital primary care uptake

Our Impact

Clinical Impact

14% reduction in sepsis mortality using Digital Sepsis Alerts
Faster diagnosis and earlier treatment due to digital clinical support systems

Service & System Impact

Remote monitoring (BP@Home, Oximetry@Home) reduced pressure on primary and emergency care
Improved patient self-management and earlier escalation of deterioration
NHS App evaluation shaped national digital strategy

Equity & Inclusion

Highlighted digital exclusion risks
Provided evidence for accessible digital design
Informed inclusive app development and ICS-level outreach

Innovation

Early adoption of AI-supported emotional wellbeing tools
International scaling of the Self-Care Matrix
COVID-19 digital tools evaluated to support system resilience

Policy Influence

Contributions to NICE Digital Evidence Standards
Evidence used by NHS England digital programmes
Findings shared nationally via Discover-NOW, HDR UK, and Imperial BRC

Working with partners across:

ICS Digital Teams
NHS Trusts
Local Authorities
HDR UK
Imperial College London
Primary Care Networks

Page updated

Report abuse