This year saw several major announcements including the abolition of NHS England and the publication of a new 10 year health plan for England.
Digital Health News has chosen the top 10 most read health and tech stories in 2025. Here’s what made the list:
10. Government to invest up to £10bn to bring NHS ‘into the digital age’
At number 10 is chancellor Rachel Reeves’ commitment in the June spending review to invest up to £10bn in in NHS tech “to bring our analogue health system into the digital age” – an almost 50% increase from 2025-26.
The funding boost was part of a £29bn real terms increase in annual NHS day-to-day spending from 2023-2024 to 2028-2029, which the government said in a press release would get the health service “back on its feet and fit for the future”.
9. Single patient record data will be available to researchers by default
A Digital Health News exclusive in February revealed that the development of a national single patient record (SPR) for England, first outlined by health secretary Wes Streeting in October 2024, would be a central recommendation in the NHS 10 year health plan.
A leaked draft report from the 10 year health plan data and tech working group recommended that anonymised healthcare information would “made available for research purposes by default, with opt out available by exception”.
Meanwhile, government research published in June showed that the public do not want all health and care professionals to have full access to a single patient record and would prefer a tiered system of access.
Speaking at Digital Health webinar in November, Ming Tang, interim chief digital and information officer at NHS England, said that the SPR will connect existing systems, rather than create a new one.
8. Frank Hester reported to have stepped down as CEO of TPP
Our most read story of 2024 was about racist and misogynistic remarks allegedly made by Frank Hester, chief executive of health software firm TPP, against Diane Abbott, Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.
That news broke on the eve of Digital Health Rewired 2024, and attendees at the event were urged to sign an open letter condemning racism and discrimination and pledging commitment to develop an ‘equity charter’ for the digital health industry.
Fast forward 18 months, and documents available on Companies House show that Hester resigned in September as the only director of TPP, which he founded, and was replaced by a new director named Maria Tomasso.
In summer 2025, Hester’s description on TPP’s website was changed from ‘founder & CEO’ to ‘founder’, with Charlotte Knowles, a former managing director who has worked for the firm for more than 20 years, listed as “chief executive officer”.
7. NHS England awards £13.3m ‘tiger teams’ contract to KPMG
At number seven is the NHSE ‘tiger teams’ contract worth £13.3 million, which was awarded to consultancy firm KPMG to support trusts unlikely to meet the March 2026 electronic patient record (EPR) target under the frontline digitisation programme.
According to a contract notice KPMG would “create an experienced, multi-skilled, rapid response intervention service,” known as a tiger teams service, to support providers to reach a minimum level of digital capability and get EPRs in place.
Tiger teams would focus on NHS secondary care trusts expected to miss the government’s EPR target, including Blackpool Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust; Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals FT; Royal Orthopaedic Hospital FT; Sherwood Forest Hospitals FT; Stockport FT; University Hospitals Liverpool Group and University Hospitals Sussex FT.
The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital went on to select InterSystems as its EPR supplier, while Sherwood Forest Hospitals selected Nervecentre.
6. Accurx and Tandem Health roll out AI scribing tool across the NHS
The use of ambient voice technology (AVT) for clinical note-taking has been much talked about this year, with a London-wide study led by Great Ormond Street Hospital, finding “transformative benefits” for patients and staff.
In April, Accurx and Tandem Health launched a tool that transcribes, summarises and codes patient consultations to be rolled out to the 98% of GP practices already using Accurx.
Other firms to release the AI scribing solutions include TORTUS, Microsoft, HEIDI Health and Aide Health, among many others.
Although NHS England recommended use of the technology, some concerns were raised about unregulated use of the tools.
A national commission was formed in September to help accelerate access to AVT and advise the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on speeding up access to AI tools. Then in October, NHSE announced the launch of a national AVT self-certified registry for suppliers to show evidence of compliance.
5. Wes Streeting pledges to retain digital workforce amid NHS reforms
After the announcement that NHSE would be abolished, questions remained about what the news meant for the digital workforce.
In April, Streeting confirmed the government’s commitment to retaining digital staff after being questioned by MPs at the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee.
“We will need people with the best skills and so that function of NHSE, which is driving that digital transformation breakthroughs in life sciences and technology as well as big productivity improvements and gains in the NHS, remains extremely important and will be part of the new department.
“Those skills, that functionality, we absolutely don’t want to lose,” the health secretary said.
In an opinion piece for Digital Health News Dawn Greaves, associate director of digital transformation at Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, argued that upheaval at the centre is a distraction that could worsen shortages of digital expertise on the frontline.
4. Wes Streeting gives the go ahead for ICB and NHS job cuts
At number four it’s Streeting again, who in November gave the go ahead for thousands of NHS job cuts in England and a 50% cut to headcounts in ICBs.
Funding arrangements were agreed with the Treasury from within the existing funding settlement without cutting investment to the NHS frontline, by allowing the health service to overspend to cover the cost of redundancies.
DHSC said that the government had committed to reducing the running costs of ICBs and had given them “a clear and focused purpose” as strategic commissioners.
But in an opinion piece for Digital Health News, integrated care system leaders questioned how the workforce can meet the lofty digital ambitions of the 10 year health plan amid major restructuring and called for stability.
3. NHS will be ‘digital by default’ under 10 year health plan
After a patient wait, the government’s much-anticipated NHS 10 year health plan was published on 3 July 2025.
The plan focuses on three major shifts from analogue to digital, hospital to community, and treatment to prevention.
Under the plan, the majority of outpatient care is intended to happen outside of hospitals by 2035. It says that the status quo of ‘hospital by default’ will end, with a new preventative principle that care should be ‘digital-by-default’.
It also includes more details on plans for the SPR and for the NHS App to become the “front door” to the health service.
Tools to support GPs are planned to be rolled out over the next two years, including new digital tools to allow quicker referrals and AI scribes, which will “end the need for clinical note taking, letter drafting, and manual data entry to free up clinicians’ time”.
The plans also include the launch of a Neighbourhood Health Service, which is hoped to allow patients to be cared for closer to their homes.
2. Nottingham Hospitals declares critical incident after EPR go-live
No EPR go-live is easy, as this example at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust proved.
The trust declared a critical incident when issues with the technical rollout of its Nervecentre EPR coincided of sustained pressures in the emergency department.
There were 24 ambulances waiting outside Queen’s Medical Centre Emergency Department and large numbers of people in the department when the incident was called at 4pm on 4 November 2025.
The critical incident was stood down two days later.
Nervecentre has established a strong presence in the Midlands, with Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust also selecting the firm as their preferred EPR supplier.
In 2025, it also began to strengthen its presence in the north of England through partnerships with Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust, Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust and York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
1. Keir Starmer announces plan to abolish NHS England
Our most ready news story of 2025 was the announcement in March from prime minister Sir Keir Starmer that NHSE would be abolished and brought back into the DHSC with the aim of ending duplication resulting from two organisations doing the same job.
Speaking in Hull on 13 March 2025, Starmer said that he was “bringing management of the NHS back into democratic control, by abolishing the arms-length body NHS England”.
It followed announcements that several senior leaders were leaving NHSE, including Amanda Pritchard, chief executive, and Sir Stephen Powis, national medical director.
DHSC said that work will begin immediately to return many of NHSE’s current functions to the department and a longer-term programme of work will realise the “untapped potential” of the NHS as a single payer system.
A contract worth up to £8 million was awarded to Cognizant Worldwide in October to support the DHSC’s IT infrastructure as NHSE merges into the department.
The reforms will reverse the 2012 top-down reorganisation of the NHS by former Conservative health secretary Andrew Lansley, but time will tell whether this move to say goodbye to NHSE is the right one.
What was your top news story of 2025? Let us know in the comments below. 👇
