The NHS’s Bet on Technology — and Why It Needs to Pay Off 

The NHS stands at a turning point.  
 
The ambition of the 10-Year Plan is bold — to deliver “a modern, preventative, and digitally enabled health service” — but the path to achieving it is more challenging than ever. Demand for services is at record levels. Waiting lists are rising to record levels. The workforce is stretched thinner than ever — and yet the expectations placed upon the system continue to grow. 
 
The Plan is clear: 
 
“We cannot simply recruit our way out of this challenge.” 
“There will not be a new wave of hospitals or a surge of additional clinicians.” 
 
That’s the reality every NHS leader now faces. The NHS will need to do more with the resources it already has. 
 
Digital is no longer the supportive technology of the healthcare system. It is the healthcare system. The success of the NHS over the next decade will depend on how effectively it uses data, digital infrastructure, and artificial intelligence to deliver smarter, safer, and more sustainable care. And that’s why the NHS is, in many ways, placing its biggest bet yet: a bet on technology. 

Betting on Technology Is ‘The Plan’ 
 
The NHS’s reliance on digital systems isn’t new. But what’s changed is the urgency — and the expectation that technology will deliver real, measurable outcomes. 

This goes beyond piloting new platforms and into rethinking how care is delivered: how data flows between systems, how clinicians spend their time, and how patients access support when and where they need it. 

Artificial intelligence sits at the centre of this transformation. The 10-Year Plan references artificial intelligence 107 times as a lever to transform patient outcomes, improve productivity, and support a stretched workforce. 
 
But “betting on technology” doesn’t mean hoping AI will solve everything. It means choosing use cases that delivers tangible, measurable improvements — the kind that free staff, speed up care, and rebuild trust in the system. 
 
Why Many Bets Don’t Pay Off 
 
Across the NHS, digital programmes often start with promise but then stall and don’t scale. Not because the technology fails, but because expectations, priorities, and data realities collide – leading to slow, fragmented delivery. 
 
Organisations try to solve too much at once. They overcomplicate their first steps, take on huge multi-year data programmes, or chase the next shiny tool. When early projects stall or fail, technology itself becomes the scapegoat — “it doesn’t work here.”. Benefits are poorly baselined, tracked or both leading the failiure to identifiy a solid business case for adoption. 
 
The way we see it, early, measurable success matters more than early scale.
 
Practical AI for a Practical NHS 
 
At SCC, we’ve seen this pattern play out across organisations. That’s why our approach focuses on practical AI — small, safe, and strategic projects that prove value fast. 
 
Our framework helps Trusts prioritise the right use cases by asking three simple but powerful questions: 
 
1. Is it feasible? 
– Can it be delivered safely and reliably with the data and resources available? 
 
2. Is it valuable? 
– Will it save time, improve experience, or reduce cost in a measurable way? 
 
3. Is it the right starting point? 
– Will success here build confidence and capability for what comes next? 
 
When those three principles align, organisations can deliver tangible success when then becomes the launchpad for everything else. 

Real-World Impact: Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust 
 
A recent example from University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire shows the power of starting small. 
 
The Trust’s HR team was overwhelmed, with over 400 emails and 200 calls a day, long response times, and limited capacity to focus on complex staff issues. 
 
Working with SCC, they implemented an AI-powered virtual assistant to handle routine HR queries. This resulted in: 
 
• 550 conversations handled in the first 7 weeks 
• Projected saving of 2,080 working days a year 
• Response times reduced from days to minutes 
 
This is a great example of a modest, targeted project with outsized impact. 

And most importantly, one that showed staff what AI can really do when applied practically and ethically. 
 
Read the full case study
 
Why Partnership Matters 

Implementing AI in the NHS is about balancing people, processes, and policy to drive clinical safety, robust information governance, and smooth change management. 

To make the NHS’s bet on technology pay off, organisations need a partner who understands all three dimensions: the technical, the operational, and the human. 
 
That’s where partnerships matter. SCC combines decades of healthcare experience with advanced data, cloud, and AI capabilities to help organisations to invest smartly in sustainable, reliable digital solutions. 
 
Because if the NHS is going to bet on technology, it needs a partner who knows how to make that bet pay off. 
 
Conclusion: The Smart Bet 
 
The NHS 10-Year Plan challenges every Trust to think differently about care, capacity, and capability. 

 
The Bets that pay off won’t be the ones with the biggest budgets — they’ll be the ones with the clearest priorities and the strongest partnerships. 
 
Now is the time to start small, learn fast, and build the digital foundations of the future NHS. 
 
Next Steps 

Our latest whitepaper is designed for NHS Board Directors, Chief Information Officers, and digital decision-makers. It provides a strategic overview of AI’s potential, alongside practical insights into the organisational, cultural, and governance challenges that must be addressed to realise its benefits.  

Download your copy of the whitepaper today 
 
Download the Whitepaper: Using Artificial Intelligence to Support the NHS in Becoming Fit for the Future