New guidance to speed health and care move to cloud

NHS and social care organisations in the UK were given the green light to use cloud services and data offshoring to store patient data earlier this week as NHS Digital, NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS Improvement, jointly published guidance on the topic. We expect the move to contribute to a ramp up in the use of cloud services by UK health and care organisations over the coming months, with a broader set of software and IT services suppliers benefiting from the trend.

The UK government introduced a ‘cloud first’ policy for public sector IT in 2013 and the use of cloud services was also endorsed in the National Information Board’s Personalised Health and Care 2020 framework published in 2014 (see Personalised Health and Care 2020: SITS Implications and Opportunities). However, many health and care organisations in the UK have been hesitant to make the move to the cloud and uncertain about the rules on storing patient data outside the UK. The guidance published this week provides welcome clarification and, importantly, encourages health and care providers to use public cloud services... More...

Posted by Tola Sargeant at '18:43' - Tagged: cloud   socialcare   health   infrastructure