Digital transformation and data-driven intelligence have been positioned as central to how built-in care boards (ICBs) plan, purchase, and monitor providers, in new commissioning pointers.
The Strategic Commissioning Framework, revealed on 6 November 2025, says that ICBs ought to construct the function digital know-how performs into their technique and inhabitants well being enchancment plans.
It ties using knowledge, analytics, and know-how immediately to higher well being outcomes, useful resource optimisation, and fairness, with all ICBs anticipated to function digitally enabled commissioning methods supported by real-time knowledge and built-in instruments by 2027.
They’re anticipated to contains the 5 key applied sciences – genomics, AI, wearable applied sciences, robotics, and joined-up knowledge – to drive innovation and transformation, as outlined within the 10 12 months well being plan.
The framework states that strategic commissioners ought to take into account these when commissioning healthcare providers to “enhance affected person care, improve productiveness, and place the UK as a pacesetter in healthcare innovation”.
Beneath the framework, supply of every ICB’s strategic outcomes shall be supported via allocating assets knowledgeable by “native knowledge and intelligence” and will contain adjustments to providers presently commissioned by the ICB, “together with doubtlessly ceasing sure providers or provision, altering present providers considerably, or including new providers”.
By March 2027, ICBs are anticipated to have operational intelligence capabilities able to utilizing real-time knowledge for commissioning choices.
They need to use “joined-up, person-level knowledge and intelligence” together with consumer suggestions, associate perception, outcomes knowledge, public well being useful resource and perception to develop “a deep and dynamic understanding of their native inhabitants and their wants now and sooner or later, and the organic, psychological and social drivers of threat and demand, proactively figuring out underserved communities”.
ICBs should “strengthen their understanding of the function of know-how and knowledge in how and what they fee”, together with leveraging service consumer and workers apps and digital well being applied sciences equivalent to AI, to “drive prevention, combine care provision throughout pathways and ease administration of workforce inside and throughout organisations”.
The framework recognises a expertise hole in digital and knowledge literacy inside commissioning and says that ICBs will want entry to “prime quality knowledge evaluation, sustained and significant engagement with individuals and experience to tell decision-making and goal interventions”.
On behalf of the Digital Well being Networks ICS Digital Council, chair John Mitchell, mentioned: “Digital and knowledge literacy are actually important expertise for everybody concerned in commissioning. The framework rightly makes them core to how we plan and ship providers, not simply the remit of a digital staff.
“Whereas it is going to take time to construct these capabilities throughout the system, sustaining robust digital and analytical capability inside ICBs shall be important to help that transition and guarantee commissioning is data-driven by design.”
Samantha Fay, chief govt at digital well being provider SiSU Well being, informed Digital Well being Information: “The brand new strategic commissioning framework is a optimistic step towards a prevention-first NHS: one which makes use of knowledge, digital instruments, personalisation and affected person partnership to enhance inhabitants well being.”
NHS England plans to publish a ‘Mannequin Digital Blueprint’ by 2026/27 to information the combination of nationwide digital instruments.
