An estimated £ 21 bn will be required over the next five years to fully digitise NHS and adult social care services across the UK, according to new research from the independent charity, the Health Foundation.
Of the total figure, £ 14.75 bn would be allocated to services in England alone.
The Health Foundation commissioned PA Consulting to assess the investment needed to meet current ambitions for health and social care digitisation.
This encompasses infrastructure projects such as the implementation of electronic patient records, cloud storage solutions, cybersecurity measures, and the provision of Wi-Fi, alongside the skills and capabilities required to deploy and use these systems effectively.
The research has been published in advance of the government’s forthcoming Spending Review and 10-Year Health Plan, both expected to outline priorities for shifting NHS services from ‘analogue to digital’.
The research has been published in advance of the government’s forthcoming Spending Review and 10-Year Health Plan
With no official public estimate currently available for the cost of existing digitisation commitments in the NHS and adult social care, this report represents the first evidence-based attempt to quantify the required investment.
Funding breakdown
The analysis estimates that £8 billion will be needed for capital spending, including hardware, software, electronic patient records, and broader infrastructure, with £5 billion of this earmarked for England.
A further £3bnin in one-off revenue spending (£2.25 billion for England) would be directed towards planning, initial education and training, the implementation of new technologies, and the transition from legacy systems.
Additionally, £ 2 bn per year in recurring revenue spending over the five-year period (£1.5 billion annually for England) is projected to cover ongoing training, software subscriptions, system maintenance, and service optimisation.
An estimated £21bn will be required over the next five years to fully digitise NHS and adult social care services across the UK
The report emphasises that debates around health service digitisation often focus solely on capital investments in hardware and infrastructure.
However, these findings highlight the critical importance of recurring revenue spending, not only to maintain systems but also to support continuous implementation, staff training, and service improvement.
Notably, these recurring costs are expected to continue beyond the five-year period assessed in the study.
Addressing Information Gaps
The Health Foundation’s research also draws attention to significant gaps in publicly available data on both the costs and benefits associated with digitisation in health and social care.
In response, the charity has outlined three key actions for government and policymakers across the UK:
- Establish a clear, transformative, and enduring vision for the digitisation of health and social care.
- Underpin this vision with the necessary funding commitments.
- Develop a comprehensive plan to realise the benefits of digitisation — including improvements in care quality, patient and staff experience, and overall service productivity.
Dr Malte Gerhold, Director of Innovation and Improvement at the Health Foundation, commented: "Ministers have repeatedly stressed the need for health and care services to move from analogue to digital. Our independently commissioned research finds that to achieve the government’s ambitions to digitise health and social care, significant spending will be needed over the next five years and beyond.
"But direct investment in technology alone is not sufficient. The government must fund the change, not just the tech. This means investing in and planning for implementation and change to genuinely realise the benefits of digitisation for patients and staff."
The findings are expected to inform forthcoming policy discussions and decisions on the future of digital health and social care services across the UK.