The Digital Principle: transforming health and social care outcomes at micro and macro levels

In the next decade, the role of digital in health and social care must embed our digital human rights principles to reduce inequalities.

The Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework 2025-2035 has been published, setting out a shared responsibility between National and Local Government to ensure people of all ages are able to live well, with the right support, and to lead healthier and more fulfilling lives. To achieve this the framework sets out how we will shift the balance to enable a community-orientated approach to health and social care which, in turn, aims to contribute to better integration of services to meet individuals’ and families’ needs.

This Framework sets out five key principles for renewal:

1. Prevention Principle: Prevention across the continuum of care

2. People Principle: Care designed around people rather than the ‘system’ or ‘services’

3. Community Principle: More care in the community rather than a hospital focused model

 4. Population Principle: Population planning, rather than along boundaries

 5. Digital Principle: Reflecting societal expectations and system needs

Within the framework there are positive aspirations, with identifiable links to our Digital Health and Social care Human Rights Principles.

‘Care being more “people-led” with “greater emphasis on choice and control”. More specialist care options will be available in the community and greater access to digital records will improve patient interaction with health care services’ (H&SC Renewal Framework, Feb 2026).

The phrase creating a ‘digital first’ mindset will never sit well with me, the terminology just provokes unease, as its open to interpretation rather than ‘digital choice’ or ‘digital where best suited’ however, there is appreciation of ‘issues of digital inclusion’, yet digital inclusion is a journey rather than a destination. I urge the NHS Boards and Integration Authorities who are accountable for collaborating on planning and delivering services within the principles of this Framework to be steered by the Pillars for Digital Inclusion framework, which highlight the complexities of digital inclusion- it is not static, it is fluid and complex, influenced by a range of different factors and the lack of consideration towards this would in fact increase inequalities rather than reduce them if not taken into serious account.

The digital principle is exciting and promising- with a drive to use technology and innovation to change people’s experiences of how they interact with services and better manage their own wellbeing, whilst simultaneously maximising the use of data and technology to make services as modern, joined up and efficient as possible. It is great to read the consideration for the positive impact digital can have on people’s outcomes and ‘ultimately, everyone should have the opportunity to be offered the choice to use digital, where appropriate, in an environment where they are supported to be digitally included’.

I would love to see this framework navigate the change to support people to have secure access and control of their own data and not only be a partner but to be active leaders in improving and managing their own health and care.

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