For those of us who believe in better health and criminal justice outcomes in the UK, these are exciting times. The new Government immediately made the case for a new and better approach based on reduced reoffending, and it has stayed true to that. In the last month, four major initiatives all point towards the integration of healthcare information across criminal justice – which is exactly the aim of our work.
Sentencing review
On 21 October, the Government announced a sentencing review, led by the former justice secretary David Gauke, which will report by Spring 2025.
The review has three core principles:
“make sure prison sentences punish serious offenders and protect the public, and there is always the space in prison for the most dangerous offenders”;
“look at what more can be done to encourage offenders to turn their backs on a life of crime, and keep the public safe by reducing reoffending”; and
“explore tougher punishments outside of prison to make sure these sentences cut crime while making the best use of taxpayers’ money”.
Our work at SONAR is directly relevant to this agenda.
As the prison population expands, the task of ensuring excellent healthcare becomes all the more important. SONAR continues to be the only healthcare information system specifically created for criminal justice and operable across all services. Prison healthcare staff will be able to access the same record as their colleagues in police custody and in courts. Its design facilitates accurate collection of data and use of that data to plan interventions effectively.
Better healthcare is itself a contributory factor to successful rehabilitation. SONAR also helps through its ReSet module for post-release. It can support the NHS England RECONNECT service and wider reoffending work, for example by flagging missed appointments to the families of offenders and to practitioners
Change NHS
On the same day, the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary launched Change NHS: a public consultation which will feed the views of citizens and professionals into the new ten-year plan for the NHS, expected next year.
The launch event emphasised the importance of sharing of healthcare information. As the Department of Health and Social Care said:
“In transforming the NHS from analogue to digital, the government will create a more modern NHS by bringing together a single patient record, summarising patient health information, test results, and letters in one place, through the NHS App. It will put patients in control of their own medical history, meaning they do not have to repeat it at every appointment, and that staff have the full picture of patients’ health. New laws are set to be introduced to make NHS patient health records available across all NHS trusts, GP surgeries and ambulance services in England - speeding up patient care, reducing repeat medical tests and minimising medication errors.”
SONAR is consistent with this vision. The different SONAR modules already connect to key NHS Spine records, and will connect to new integrated NHS records in future.
Data Use and Access Bill
On 24 October, the Government published a new Bill which will support its plans for the NHS. As the launch news release said: “It will require IT suppliers for the health and care sector to ensure their systems meet common standards to enable data sharing across platforms.” The Government expects benefits to include the freeing-up of 140,000 hours of NHS staff time every year.
Autumn Budget 2024
Lastly, in her Budget on 30 October, the Chancellor provided the necessary funding for the NHS. She said that over £2 billion will be invested in NHS “technology and digital” to drive productivity improvements, free up staff time and enhance patient access through the NHS App.
Conclusion
Speaking at the launch of the new Bill, Vin Diwakar, National Director of Transformation at NHS England, said:
“These changes will lay the foundations for patient information to flow safely, securely and seamlessly, which will improve clinical outcomes, make decision-making more informed and speed up the delivery of care. By simply using data more efficiently, we can save time and money, and create a modern, digital NHS that continues to improve care for patients.”
By connecting this new NHS vision to criminal justice, let’s create an integrated healthcare CJS information system for the first time – with all the benefits to outcomes and efficiency that will follow.
John White
Founder and CEO
