Our Digital Exemplar Programme launched in June 2018 with the goal of developing a programme of digital support for local practices.

The Lancashire and Cumbria Innovation Alliance (LCIA) Test Bed programme was a collaborative study which tested a combination of innovative technologies and practices to determine if they could improve services and patient experiences. Read about the impact of this partnership project and download the latest report.

Lancashire Care came Highly Commended in the ‘Procurement Project of the Year’ category at the prestigious UK National GO Awards 2019 for working collaboratively with local NHS and public sector partners - including Healthier Lancashire and South Cumbria team members in the digital health team - to improve the Health and Social Care Network (HSCN) across the Lancashire and South Cumbria integrated care system.

A new digital portal has been introduced by the NHS and councils in Lancashire, which allows health and social care staff to see how many vacancies there are in local care homes, saving hours of time phoning around to check availability and helping people to get the right care or return home as quickly as possible.

We asked the Healthwatch Collaborative to help us hear from local people and to explore how they currently use technology to manage their health and wellbeing and that of their families, learn about the challenges people might face when using digital technology, understand how we can better support people to use digital tools and hear ideas about improvements we could make in the future. The resulting report was published by Healthwatch in February 2019, and we will use the recommendations made by local people to inform the digital delivery plan for 2019/20 as we bring the digital strategy to life.

In July 2018, students from schools in Lancashire and Cumbria took part in our Digital Healthy Schools event at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston. As part of our celebrations of the 70th birthday of the NHS this year, we recorded their ideas about what the NHS might look like in 70 years' time. These have now been brought to life in a short animation.

We have really enjoyed getting out and about to offer local residents training and support to get online to manage their health and wellbeing through a series of drop in sessions in Lancashire and South Cumbria. Our digital tour stopped off at Chorley, Nelson, Morecambe, Blackpool, Blackburn, Preston and Barrow-in-Furness and we spoke to 487 people about all things digital.

NHS Digital has taken a crucial step towards a more joined-up health and care system with the launch of the new National Record Locator Service. Local clinical and IT professionals from across Lancashire and South Cumbria have played a key role in making this possible in our area.

Local residents are being offered training and support to get online to manage their health and wellbeing through a series of drop in sessions in Lancashire and South Cumbria this November.

Local residents are being offered training and support to get online to manage their health and wellbeing through a series of drop in sessions in Lancashire and South Cumbria this November.