NHS: AI and Digital Transformation Updates April ’26

News update as of late April 2026, the newly formed Surrey and Sussex Integrated Care Board (ICB) progresses the national 10-Year Health Plan (“Fit for the Future”), emphasising neighbourhood health models, digital shift, and prevention.

Local delivery continues through Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust (SCFT), Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT), the Integrated Care System, and GP surgeries, with a strong push toward integrated community teams and data-enabled care.

AI and Digital Transformation Updates

A key recent milestone is SPFT’s successful launch of the TPP SystmOne electronic patient record (EPR) on 2 February 2026 (with public announcements in March).

This replaces the end-of-life Carenotes system and aligns with SystmOne usage by around half of local GP practices, East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, and SCFT.

The move aims to improve data continuity, reduce duplication, enhance team communication, and support safer, more joined-up care across mental health, primary, and community services. Training completion reached 84.1% at go-live, following data migration refinements to ensure safety.

National and regional momentum includes ongoing evaluation of ambient voice technology (AVT) and AI scribes, with pilots in Kent, Surrey and Sussex demonstrating time savings and improved work-life balance for staff in urgent and community settings.

The AI Task and Finish Group (under the former Sussex Digital and Data structures, now transitioning) continues co-design with patients and staff, focusing on ethical use, bias mitigation (particularly relevant in mental health datasets), and productivity gains without compromising dignity.

Broader system work advances the Sussex Integrated Dataset for risk stratification and population health management, alongside preparations for enhanced NHS App features and Single Patient Records.

SCFT sustains its digital leadership ambitions through ongoing EPR optimisation, interoperability projects (e.g., EMIS/SystmOne integration), and infrastructure improvements for remote/agile working.

GP surgeries expand digital pathways, including online consultations, supporting the analogue-to-digital transition.

These developments align with the 10-Year Plan’s goals, seeking to free clinical time while maintaining human-centred care.

Mental Health Services and KPI Measures

Mental health demand stays high, with national contacts exceeding 2.2 million in early 2026 and referrals up significantly.

In Sussex, urgent care referrals rose from 26,000 to 31,000 annually over five years, and total contacts grew from 79,000 to 131,000.

SPFT leads transformation via the Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism (MHLDA) Programme Board, with priority programmes for children, adults, older adults, and neurodevelopmental services (including an ADHD pilot launching March 2026).

Notable progress and challenges:

• Sectioning (Mental Health Act detentions): Sussex crisis services (Rapid Response and Blue Light Line) avoided nearly 1,000 Section 136 detentions and over 8,500 emergency department attendances in 2025. Monthly Section 136 detentions reached their lowest in 10 years, with sustained reductions over recent months — a positive indicator of strengthened community prevention.
• Wait times and flow: Persistent issues include 12-hour breaches for mental health admissions from emergency departments, with Sussex performance above the national average since 2023. Targets focus on reducing these breaches, adult acute length of stay (10%), and clinically ready-for-discharge patients (10%). For children and young people (CYP), Sussex ICB showed low performance against the proposed 4-week “full clock stop” standard (around 5% in Oct-Dec 2025 data), with notable long waits (>52 or >104 weeks) in community mental health. Neighbourhood Mental Health Teams (15 launched December 2025) and alignment with Integrated Community Teams aim to improve access, personalisation, and prevention closer to home. Talking therapies generally perform better against 6-week targets.
• Mortality and related KPIs: No new Sussex-specific mortality figures for mental health users were released in recent public updates. Nationally, elevated risks persist for severe mental illness, alongside concerns over restrictive interventions and suicide prevention. SPFT targets reductions in suicides, zero inpatient ligature deaths, and improved physical-mental health integration.

Fifteen Neighbourhood Mental Health Teams (NMHTs), co-designed with lived experience input, now operate across Sussex footprints, integrating with GPs, VCSE, and local authorities to reduce avoidable admissions and deliver flexible, person-centred support. These efforts reflect real pressures on individuals and families; dedicated crisis supports and community bridges remain vital lifelines.

Staff, Estates, and Cyber Security

SCFT’s Estates Strategy 2022–2026 prioritises high-quality, sustainable community facilities responsive to changing needs, technologies, and models. This includes agile working practices, multi-occupancy hubs, carbon reduction, and collaborative partnerships (e.g., with SPFT and primary care) to optimise the estate across nearly 80 buildings and over 79,000m². Workforce strategies emphasise digital upskilling, retention, and supportive cultures amid transformation.

Cyber resilience features prominently in SCFT’s digital plans, with focus on infrastructure security, secure remote access, WiFi improvements, and compliance with the Data Security and Protection Toolkit. No major new Sussex-specific incidents were reported in recent weeks, though national and regional guidance stresses vigilance on patching, multi-factor authentication, and business continuity — especially with rising AI-related and geopolitical cyber risks.

Compassionate Outlook

Late April 2026 marks tangible steps forward in Sussex, notably the SPFT SystmOne EPR go-live and rollout of Neighbourhood Mental Health Teams, advancing the shift toward integrated, community-based care under the 10-Year Plan. These initiatives promise better data flow, reduced administrative burdens, and more preventive support, yet challenges in demand, long community waits (especially for CYP), inpatient flow, and equity persist.

Staff across SCFT, SPFT, GP practices, and the wider system continue showing dedication, balancing digital adoption, high caseloads, and compassionate practice. Service users and carers navigating waits or crises deserve empathy for their resilience and advocacy. Co-design, rigorous evaluation of new tools like SystmOne and neighbourhood models, and focus on prevention will be essential to deliver meaningful improvements in outcomes and experience.

Future coverage will track EPR benefits realisation, NMHT/ICT outcomes, KPI trajectories (including sectioning reductions and wait time improvements), estate adaptations, and cyber developments as Surrey and Sussex ICB structures embed and neighbourhood health plans evolve.

References for deeper dives:

• SPFT SystmOne EPR launch and updates: sussexpartnership.nhs.uk (news and board papers, February–March 2026); digitalhealth.net (March 2026 coverage).
• Sussex Mental Health Update (February 2026 Assembly report): sussex.ics.nhs.uk (Mental Health Update PDF).
• SCFT Estates Strategy 2022–2026 and Digital initiatives: sussexcommunity.nhs.uk (strategies section).
• National 10-Year Health Plan and neighbourhood health guidance: gov.uk / england.nhs.uk.
• Mental Health Services statistics and CYP waiting data: digital.nhs.uk; rcpsych.ac.uk (Mental Health Watch briefings).
• AI in mental health considerations: nhsconfed.org (March 2026 publication).

This report is grounded in publicly available sources as of mid-to-late April 2026, prioritising factual accuracy and compassion for all involved in Sussex health and care.