Healthcare representatives share their thoughts about the newly announced NHS Modernisation Bill, but a stumbling block for medics appears to be data and security.
King Charles III took to parliament last week (13 May) for his annual speech. It was a chance to highlight the UK government’s plans for the next parliamentary session, and 2026’s speech announced 37 bills.
Most crucially for doctors, these included the NHS Modernisation Bill. The main change will be to abolish NHS England and create a new single patient record, shifting responsibility for health spending to ministers and local health boards. More broadly, these come alongside a new asylum model and stricter immigration rules, and moves to ban LGBT+ conversion therapies.
It marks significant shifts within the health service, which the sector is set to closely monitor in the months to come.
There have long been calls for the NHS to modernise and streamline digitally, and the view on the ground is that the NHS Modernisation Bill might go some way to facilitate this.
Gerard Hanratty, partner and head of health and life sciences at Browne Jacobson, called the abolition of NHS England “the most radical structural change to the health service since the Health and Social Care Act 2012”.
Nick Lansman, founding chief executive of the Health Tech Alliance, a coalition of leading healthtech organisations, welcomed the newly announced Bill for how it formalises the ambitions of the 10 Year Health Plan into legislation. Noting that this direction of travel, reducing inefficiency, driving innovation and supporting earlier intervention was just what the sector has been calling for. He feels the commitment to building the Single Patient Record, bringing health and social care data together in one place, is particularly significant.
Streamlined decision-making
At NHS Alliance, the membership and leadership body which represents the health and care system across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, deputy chief executive Sarah Walter expects the NHS Modernisation Bill to be key to delivering the vision of the 10 Year Health Plan.
“The abolition of NHS England with functions transferred either to the secretary of state or devolved to ICBs will provide an opportunity to streamline decision-making from the centre and must be accompanied by measures and ways of working which empower local leaders to design services for their communities,” she said.
The Patients Association is also supportive of the different components. Rachel Power, chief executive of the patient charity, said that the Bill contains “real opportunities for patients”, specifically the Single Patient Record, which could make “a genuine difference” to people’s lives.
“Embedding patient voice in national decision-making is long overdue, and if done properly, this could mark a genuine shift in how the system listens and responds,” she added.
Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of The King’s Fund, agreed that the Single Patient Record provides “potentially the greatest opportunity”, as for too long patients have been left in the dark about updates concerning their own care.
She noted, however, how previous attempts at formalising a Single Patient Record have failed or been delayed, citing concerns about privacy and data control responsibilities. It remains to be seen whether the government will win the argument in parliament, or if it can both protect individuals’ health information and allay healthcare professionals’ worries.
The problem of data
The problem that many have highlighted is the issue of data. “Fragmented data has long been one of the biggest practical barriers to deploying health technology effectively, and this reform lays the kind of structural foundation that will enable digital health solutions to genuinely scale across the NHS,” Health Tech Alliance’s Lansman said.
“By its very nature, healthcare data is highly sensitive information, and the scale and complexity of NHS infrastructure means the attack surface inevitably expands as more systems, suppliers, and digital services become interconnected,” said Tim Williams, chief executive at IT security firm Quod Orbis.
He added that as part of these planned upgrades, supply chain security – the network of technology providers, software vendors and external partners – would need to become a central consideration.
“Do healthcare organisations have a cohesive view of the data that they handle, and do they really know it is safe? Attackers increasingly look for weaker links within those chains to gain access to larger systems, so even where core NHS infrastructure is secure, vulnerabilities within connected suppliers can still create significant downstream risk,” he said.
And that comes with its own problems.
Hanratty said that the NHS must address data security, patient privacy and the digital divide – and it must be transparent with the public about the benefits of data sharing. “With AI earmarked for a major role in the 10 Year Health Plan, clear ethical guidelines and rigorous governance frameworks are essential,” he warned.
The British Medical Association had similar reservations. “While the concept of a Single Patient Record may sound promising, GPs have real concerns about security and confidentiality, and it is therefore crucial that their voices are listened to before implementation to ensure patient data remains safe and patient confidence is protected,” said deputy chair of council Emma Runswick.
Patient care
Ultimately, the question that much of the sector is asking is how much disruption the Bill will mean.
“We know from previous reorganisations of the NHS that their benefits are often overstated, and disruption underestimated,” said The Nuffield Trust’s chief executive, Thea Stein. “The scale and timing of these changes – which clash with major cuts to local health boards – means the NHS is tied up reorganising itself precisely when it needs to be improving patient care.”
Hand-in-hand with disruption is where the money is coming from.
“The NHS needs funding. But stretched budgets across government mean all of the NHS’s competing demands cannot be addressed,” said Graham Cookson, chief executive of the Office of Health Economics.
The question is no longer public versus private, he explained, given that private funding is already embedded in the NHS. Primary care is delivered by independent contractors; private providers are already working in elective care, and more and more of the population are opting for private healthcare.
“The NHS isn’t exempt from private financing. The only question is whether we’re honest about plural provision and whether we shape it deliberately or just let it happen to us,” he concluded.
