Technology and digital ‘vital’ for NHS productivity says Jim Mackey

Sir Jim Mackey, chief executive at NHS England, has stressed the importance of technology and digital solutions for transformation and productivity to health system leaders.

In a letter to integrated care boards (ICBs) and NHS trusts, published on 19 September 2025, Sir Jim outlined measures to achieve the ambitions of the NHS 10 year health plan.

He said: “Technology and digital solutions are going to be vital for longer term transformation and unlocking our productivity.

“Cutting back on investments in these areas to help with short-term challenges will undermine longer-term sustainability and improvement.”

Mackey emphasised the importance of access to primary care to help manage system pressures, highlighting upcoming changes to the GP contract, which mean that practices must keep online consultation tools open throughout core hours.

“Patients need to be able to contact their GP practice by phone, online or by walking in, and for people to have an equitable experience across these access modes.

“As part of dealing with the 8am scramble, from 1 October 2025 practices will be required to keep their online consultation tool open for the duration of core hours for non-urgent appointment requests, medication queries and admin requests.

“ICBs should ensure practices are following these requirements.”

The British Medical Association (BMA) has warned that the changes could cause a spike in doctors’ workloads and create waiting lists.

In a statement, published on 19 September 2025, the BMA GP committee in England announced that it has voted to go back into dispute with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHSE.

“The BMA’s GP Committee believes allowing unlimited online requests without safety measures built in opens the floodgates to an already stretched GP workforce without increasing any practice capacity,” the statement says.

Commenting on doctors’ concerns, Julian Coe, managing director at HealthTech firm X-on Health, said: “We know that technology and digital solutions are essential for the long-term transformation of healthcare and unlocking productivity across the NHS.

“We also recognise the concerns raised by the BMA regarding the requirement for GP practices to keep online consultation tools open throughout core hours.

“While accessibility is crucial, it must be balanced with safeguards that protect clinical capacity and ensure sustainable workloads for practices.”

Mackey noted that elective and urgent and emergency care performance had “drifted a little over the summer”, which he attributed to doctors’ strikes and “higher than expected demand, financial pressures, and challenges on rates of pay.”

“While maintaining their focus on 18 weeks performance and managing the size of the list, all providers are expected to eliminate their remaining 65 week waits by mid-December and meet the planning guidance requirements for 52 week waits by the end of March 2026,” he said.

Commenting on Mackey’s letter, Dr Eleanor Wicks, chief scientific officer at HealthTech firm Lifeyear, said: “The NHS faces the dual challenge of improving waiting times while supporting patients safely in the community.

“Digital approaches have an important role to play here clearly, from remote monitoring that can identify deterioration early, to tools that help patients manage their conditions outside hospital.”