NHS Digital

NHS Digital is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom. It provides information, data and IT systems for commissioners, analysts and clinicians in health and social care. The organization was formerly known as the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).

History

NHS Digital was established on 1 April 2013 by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 as the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). It was rebranded as NHS Digital in July 2016.

Functions

NHS Digital is responsible for setting the national direction on IT investment in the NHS. It has legal responsibility for collecting, analysing and disseminating national data on health and social care. It also delivers IT infrastructure, information systems and standards to health and care services.

Services

NHS Digital provides a number of services to the NHS and social care. These include:

• The NHS website (formerly NHS Choices)
• The NHS App
• NHS Pathways
• NHSmail
• The Electronic Prescription Service
• Summary Care Records
• The National Data Opt Out
• The Data Security Centre

Criticism

NHS Digital has faced criticism for its handling of patient data, including a 2017 incident in which it was found to have inadvertently shared the data of around 1.2 million patients who had opted out of data sharing.

See also

• Healthcare in the United Kingdom
• National Health Service (England)
• Department of Health and Social Care

External links

• Official website

NHS Digital Resources
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