NHS must use email by default, says health secretary Matt Hancock

Health secretary Matt Hancock wants NHS staff to use email as the default method for communicating with patients, instead of relying almost solely on paper letters.

Speaking at the NHS England Empowering people in a digital world conference in London, the secretary of state for health and social care criticised those in the health service who reject the use of secure, modern communication methods.

“We spend £8m a year in the NHS on paper. We spend £2m a year on envelopes. We can save lives, save staff time and cut costs by using an extraordinary piece of technology that has the ability to allow two people to communicate instantaneously… It’s called email, I don’t know whether any of you have heard of it. We’re going to use it across the NHS, not just to communicate internally, but to communicate by default with patients,” he said.

Hancock attacked the reliance on paper in the NHS, reiterating a previous ambition to “axe the fax” that led to a ban on NHS organisations buying fax machines.

“More than half a million letters between GPs and hospitals have gone missing over the past five years. If I need to motivate both the privacy and the operational need to update this outdated technology, that half million figure is right at the top of the list,” he said.

“Of the 1,788 patients who may have been harmed as a result, 333 have since died. We don’t know the direct effect between missing letters and life and death outcomes, but it could be the difference between life and death.”

NHS Digital is publishing new guidelines on making sure email systems in the health service are secure.

“There’s no reason why a doctor can’t email a patient confidentially… as long as the email system is secure. Being able to email a patient is important, necessary and the right thing to do. Snail mail is slower and less secure. In a city like London, people change [home] address more often than their email address,” said Hancock.

People who prefer to receive letters will still do so, but Hancock said the idea that the NHS “shouldn’t use a technology because it can’t be used for everybody is a huge mistake”.

In October last year, Hancock set out his technology vision for the NHS, focusing on modern technology architecture, user needs, privacy and security, interoperability and inclusion. He told NHS staff at the conference that they have to get up to date on what today’s technology can do.

“Of the 1,788 patients who may have been harmed as a result [of missing letters], 333 have since died. We don’t know the direct effect between missing letters and life and death outcomes, but it could be the difference between life and death”

“We can’t get NHS technology into the 21st century until we catch up with the technologies of the 20th century. There are some people reacting against the use of 20-year-old technology. We are on the side of patients, of security and privacy, of improving and saving lives,” he said.