Labour has been making plenty of noise about bringing the NHS into the digital age—tweaking the NHS App, rolling out AI, and promising a streamlined, modern service. Wes Streeting has touted the plans to go from analogue to digital as a way to cut bureaucracy and make the health system fit for the 21st century. Sounds good…
Though given the NHS’s track record, whether it can actually handle the transition is another question. A TaxPayers’ Alliance FoI seen by Guido reveals that from 2021-2024, there have been a staggering 35,283 data breaches across 154 NHS Trusts, with 233,314 patients’ records accessed inappropriately. Though the NHS won’t say how much that set the taxpayer back…
Joanna Marchong of the TPA said:
“Taxpayers will be happy to see the NHS go digital but their track record will be cause for concern. Patients trust the NHS with private and confidential data, NHS bosses need to prioritise tightening up their security.”
Streeting might want to ask how the NHS can keep a lid on patient data as it stands before rolling out his digital revolution…
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”