As a publicly funded organisation, delivering efficiently is crucial to providing value to the taxpayer. For this reason, it is one of our organisational strategic goals, one of our Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) priorities and also one of our data principles. Our data is a powerful tool which enables us to benchmark, identify and monitor efficiencies across our services. We sometimes face difficulties in accessing the key data which will enable us to do this, and we commit to addressing this. However, we recognise that using our data to support efficiencies goes beyond just optimising our internal processes. How we manage and make our data available can deliver efficiencies for the individuals and organisations who use our data and can identify and inform efficiencies across the wider health and care system.
We have already demonstrated commitment to delivering efficiencies by optimising processes, deploying automation tools, and leveraging new technologies to drive operational efficiencies. This includes the use of Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Reproducible Analytical Pipelines (RAPs), a comprehensive platform for automating end-to-end data and analytics processes. To date these efforts have removed thousands of hours of manual effort, however manual processes persist in other areas, reducing efficiency and increasing the risk of errors.
Moving forwards, we will continue to identify and address opportunities for operational efficiencies including continued deployment of automation tools and new technologies maintaining a consistent focus on balancing the potential efficiencies against the costs of automation to ensure each case delivers value. This will be supported by ensuring each tool has a comprehensive service wrapper in place offering clarity on when and how each can be deployed to ensure the most appropriate tool is used for each use case.
We recognise that easy and quick access to crucial data for informing and monitoring operational efficiencies, such as cost per transaction, can be a challenge. We are currently collaborating with finance colleagues to automate processes to produce unit cost reports across our operational services. This work will enable us to baseline our current level of efficiency and support the identification of areas for further efficiency. By automating the reporting aspect, we will ensure such data can be made available on a regular basis supporting continuous improvement and monitoring.
As we establish our Modern Data Platform (MDP) and Data Operating Model (DOM), we will focus on ensuring clear, efficient processes are in place for meeting our customers’ needs including deploying common data terms.
We will continue to support interoperability within our organisation and across the health and care sector, including embedding common data standards, to reduce data burden and ensuring data minimisation to support efficient delivery.
Our drive for efficiency extends beyond our own organisation, we regularly use our data and expertise to identify potential efficiencies for the wider health and care system. This includes supporting the identification of fraud and error and the identification of time efficiencies such as our work with the Wessex Academic Health Science Network during the COVID-19 pandemic which identified patients suitable for electronic repeat dispensing and is estimated to have saved 90,000 hours of GP time. Another example is our National Medicines Optimisation Opportunities Dashboard which seeks to support Integrated Care Boards not only to deliver value for money in prescribing but also tackle health inequalities and improve outcomes in population health. We have committed to continue this type of work including contributing to the DHSC Efficiency and Reform Program.
Commitment
We will continue to improve our efficiency by:
- delivering a Modern Data Platform (MDP) and Data Operating Model (DOM), which will improve efficiency, and minimise impact on the environment
- continuing to use our data to identify opportunities for wider system efficiencies
- re-designing systems and processes, with a focus on automation and interoperability