FRONTLINE DIGITISATION

Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

Record date: 31 March 2026

Whole-life cost: £2.1bn
Published schedule: 01/04/2021 – 31/03/2026
NISTA delivery confidence: AMBER
Senior responsible owner: Dermot Ryan

What the project is for

The aim of the Frontline Digitisation (FD) programme is to support secondary care trusts to procure and implement an electronic patient record system (EPR) that meets our minimum standards. The ability to access up-to-date patient medical records at any time increases safety, improves outcomes and provides productivity benefits compared with paper records. Investment in digitising the frontline will ensure health and care staff have access to health-related information when and where it is needed, supporting them to deliver care efficiently, effectively and safely, reducing variation and improving outcomes. The delivery outcomes of the programme are: • Coverage – supporting trusts without an EPR to implement one – target 96% by March 26. • Capability – supporting trusts with an EPR to replace, extend or optimise it to meet our minimum standards – target 70% by March 26. • Convergence – making decisions about coverage and capability with the aim of having fewer, more integrated EPRs serving larger populations.

Departmental delivery commentary

Compared to financial year 24/25 Q4, the SRO Delivery Confidence Assessment (DCA) rating at 25/26 Q4 improved from Amber to this year’s AMBER / GREEN rating. This is primarily due to the Programme having made very significant progress in increasing EPR Coverage and Digital Maturity across NHS Trusts. This is a key strategic capability uplift across the health ecosystem and this level of progress against a changing and unusually challenging delivery context was commended.

Schedule

Compared to Financial Year 24/25 Q4, the project's end date at 25/26 Q4 remained the same with the programme closure taking place on 31st March 2026. The programme has completed with 94% coverage against a target of 96% however, all contracts have been signed with suppliers. The final capability is 73% against a target of 70%, reaching 78% by end of Quarter One 26/27 with no additional interventions.

Cost

The Programme's departmentally agreed WLC remained unchanged from the 24/25 agreed WLC.

Benefits

Compared to financial year 24/25, the project's departmentally agreed Benefits at 25/26 remains the same.