How To Bridge the Analogue-to-Digital Gap: Powering the 10 Year Plan’s Tech  Ambitions With Integrated Data and Monitoring

The NHS is at a crossroads. Demand is rising, resources are stretched, and many healthcare services still rely on outdated, fragmented systems. This makes it difficult for providers to deliver safe, efficient, joined-up care.  

NHS England’s 10-Year Health Plan, Fit for the Future, recognises this and highlights the need for change. It sets out three key shifts to strengthen its productivity and resilience: 

Data and digital tools will be essential to achieving these ambitions. Graphnet’s integrated software brings data, workflows, and people together so healthcare teams can work in a more coordinated, proactive way. 

Our shared care, population health, and remote monitoring solutions create a single, real-time view of an individual’s care, whether they are in hospital, in the community, or at home. 

This article explores how these tools help Integrated Care Systems (ICSs), local authorities, and NHS trusts to bridge the analogue-to-digital divide, supporting a more modern, connected, and patient-centred NHS.  

Understanding the ‘analogue-to-digital’ challenge 

 
The NHS is one of the UK’s most trusted institutions, but much of its infrastructure was built before today’s healthcare needs emerged. Legacy systems, paper-based records, siloed services, and manual processes make it harder for staff to work efficiently and for patients to receive coordinated care.  

These analogue processes contribute to challenges such as: 

A truly digital NHS would help address these issues. It would support safer, faster decisions, enable earlier intervention, and give patients more control over their health. NHS England describes this vision in its What Good Looks Like (WGLL) framework as “[using] data and digital solutions to redesign care pathways across organisational boundaries to give patients the right care in the most appropriate setting”.  

However, moving from analogue to digital at scale is not straightforward. The main barriers include: 

Overcoming these challenges requires more than switching to a digital tool. It requires better use of data across the whole care journey.  

Why integrated data and monitoring are critical 

 
Digital transformation only succeeds when systems and teams are connected. Introducing new tools in isolation can create further fragmentation unless data flows smoothly between them.  

Three components are essential: 

When these components work together, they form a continuous cycle: 
data → insight → action → monitoring → feedback.  

This joined-up model enables a shift towards predictive, preventative, community-based care. The essence of the 10 Year Plan.  

How the 10-Year Health Plan sets the framework 

 
The Plan’s three shifts – from hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention – are closely linked. Each relies on strong digital foundations and a consistent national approach.  

Key policy enablers include: 

Together, these enablers support a future in which patients can access their information easily, clinicians have the data they need at the point of care, and systems can plan services based on real-time insights.  

Graphnet’s integrated solutions align directly with these policy ambitions, helping systems turn national priorities into practical, local delivery.  

Graphnet’s approach – bridging analogue to digital in practice 

 
With more than 30 years of experience in digital health innovation, Graphnet has developed a comprehensive approach to supporting ICSs on their journey from analogue to digital.  

Combined Intelligence for Population Health Action (CIPHA) is the UK’s only platform that supports the full population health management cycle. It brings together: 

By connecting these capabilities, CIPHA helps systems: 

This integrated approach reduces waiting lists, frees up hospital capacity, and helps people remain safe and well in their own homes.  

Evidence & case studies 

 
Graphnet’s software is already delivering measurable improvements across the country:   

A remote monitoring trial using Graphnet’s Remote Monitoring and population health platform reduced emergency hospital visits by nearly 70% among frail and complex patients. Early identification combined with real-time dashboards enabled quicker intervention, reduced anxiety for patients, and improved condition management. Read more. 
 

Graphnet’s digital workflow tools replaced manual triage with automated risk assessment, reducing nurse consultation time by 27%. Integration across systems led to safer, quicker pre-operative assessments and reduced administrative burden. Read more.  

Key success factors & practical considerations for systems 

 
For health and care systems transitioning from analogue to digital, success requires careful planning and sustained engagement across partners. Key factors include:  

Graphnet supports these priorities through flexible technology, deep experience across ICSs, and proven ability to integrate multiple organisations into a single, shared system.

The future-looking view: what next for ‘digital by default’ and proactive care? 

 
Over the next decade, advances in digital technology will continue to reshape the way health and care services are delivered. We can expect: 

Graphnet is developing new capabilities across CIPHA and Shared Care to support this evolution. Our focus is on helping systems deliver earlier intervention, more choice for patients, and fewer avoidable admissions. 

Conclusion