The future of healthcare, unlocked

Successful healthcare systems depend on secure, reliable, and fast networks.

These are the foundations upon which it’s possible to unlock and enable opportunities in areas as diverse as remote and personalised care, digital-first services, AI, advanced analytics, and even robot-assisted surgery.

Healthcare professionals see the promise of these technologies, but many feel progress is slower than in other sectors. Too often the tools they use at work lag the tech in their pocket, with some reporting more reliable connectivity at home than in hospital. This varies from place to place, meaning there’s work to do to upgrade and future-proof the UK’s healthcare system nationwide.

Efforts to reform many of these challenges are ongoing, set against the daily need to provide care and save lives, making it difficult to stay on top of the latest tech innovations. The NHS Long Term Plan outlines a pathway to make this happen in a complex and evolving environment: boosting productivity, efficiency and care with reduced waiting times. This links to three big shifts in healthcare: from hospital to community, from analogue to digital and from sickness to prevention.

Only by unlocking future ready secure networks and IT infrastructure will they have the power to enable these upgrades, ensuring clinical systems are always available and empowering healthcare workers to deliver the best outcomes for patients.

“To meet the ambitions of the NHS Long Term Plan, healthcare providers need more than vision, they need infrastructure that delivers and a mindset shift towards tech. Robust connectivity ensures clinical systems, diagnostics and patient records are always available, freeing up time, reducing admin, and enabling smarter, more flexible care across hospitals, GP practices and community settings.”

Prof Sultan Mahmud

Healthcare Director at BT

Connectivity opportunities in healthcare

With better networks and enhanced connectivity, the healthcare sector can unlock new efficiencies. Our aim is to remove the digital distractions that get in the way of care, so clinicians can focus on what they do best.

Our research shows connectivity-driven investments and productivity gains could unlock around £2bn between now and 2030, with the productivity gains equivalent to two extra days per employee. That might not sound huge, but across the entire NHS workforce this adds up to 18.1 million working days or 49,600 years.

£2 billion

The potential additional value unlocked for the healthcare sector from connectivity investments and productivity gains between 2025 and 2030. That’s equivalent to the annual NHS revenue from patient charges such as prescriptions and dental treatment in 2023/24.

2 days

The potential annual connectivity-driven productivity gains unlocked by 2030 per employee. That’s enough time for a GP to have 50 contacts with their patients.

Patient experience

11% of patients have avoided using a healthcare service due to a poor digital experience.

49% of patients are confident that the digital experience will meet their needs by 2030.

Employee experience

23% of healthcare employees have quit, or considered quitting, due to workplace technology frustrations.

60% of healthcare employees are confident that their organisation will be future-ready by 2030.

Healthy tech, healthy workforce

The overwhelming majority of healthcare employees say they are satisfied with the technology they use at work, with 83% reporting a positive view.

Yet 92% don’t think their technology is truly leading edge – suggesting most staff are either unaware of what could be possible with better systems and a robust network, or don’t think such upgrades are possible. All this highlights the need to take all employees on the technology transformation journey.

In practice, staff still face challenges, from carrying multiple laptops for different logins to moving between hospital areas where connectivity is patchy. As a result, 23% of healthcare workers have either quit or considered quitting because of IT frustrations. Many see the adoption of advanced tools as part of their career growth, but outdated technologies are becoming barriers to progress.

Five hours lost

Some 44% of healthcare workers say their systems are ‘still developing’, while on average they report losing five hours a week to disconnected or unreliable tools – a figure far above the two days per year potential connectivity-driven productivity improvements identified in our modelling. This disconnect points to a level of tech-induced frustration felt by workers which will be impacting efficiency.

Employees say they already have access to electronic patient records, secure cloud platforms, reliable wireless connectivity and telehealth and virtual consultations. But, by 2030, expectations run much higher. At the end of the decade expectations include seamless integration across departments, predictive analytics for patient outcomes, AI-driven diagnostic imaging, real-time data informing decisions and remote patient monitoring.

Top workplace technology improvements healthcare employees expect their employer to deliver by 2030

Seamless integration across departments.

Predictive analytics for patient outcomes.

Reliable, high bandwidth wireless connectivity.

Real-time data-driven decisions.

Remote patient monitoring.

AI-driven diagnostic imaging.

“When hospital corridors drop signal more often than a commuter train, it’s more than an inconvenience; it’s a barrier to care. Future-ready infrastructure turns downtime into delivery time, giving clinicians the access, tools and confidence they need to focus on patients, not admin.”

Prof Sultan Mahmud

Health and Communities Director, BT Business

Departmental digital disconnect?

When it comes to workplace technology, 95% of senior leaders are happy with their current IT stack and have high expectations for what could be coming by 2030. However, just over one in ten believe their technology is leading-edge or advanced, but 84% expect a transformation – or at least a significant improvement – within the next five years.

Frontline healthcare workers see it differently. Far fewer (57%) believe their workplace technology is either leading-edge or advanced, although not as many have access to the same workplace technologies as senior leaders. For example, 60% of senior leaders say they have access to reliable, high-bandwidth wireless connectivity compared to just 31% of frontline professionals, and 56% of leaders make real-time data-driven decisions, compared to only 21% of those on the frontline.

But senior leaders don’t always feel secure in their job: nearly half of them are concerned AI will replace their roles, compared with just 25% of frontline workers sharing the same concern.

Great expectations

Patients have clear digital demands – with security topping the list. Confidence in health data protection is paramount, with 92% labelling it a priority, followed by booking systems that do not crash (90%), easy-to-use services for all (89%), 24/7 support (82%) and digital equity so services are accessible nationwide (81%).

Consumer health data, including insights from wearables, will increasingly influence how people manage their health, helping them to prevent diseases, a key pillar of the NHS’ Long Term Plan. Remote patient monitoring, then, must become available in more places, ultimately extending to the remotest parts of the country.

Care delivery is shifting – and with it, expectations of the NHS as a whole. By 2030, patients want electronic health records they can access directly (59%), virtual GP consultations via video or chat (57%), automated appointment scheduling and reminders (53%), digital mental health support apps (49%) and high-speed Wi-Fi in all care settings (48%).

Healthcare staff and patients are ready for a connected, digital future. To make it real, they need better infrastructure, robust cyber security and nationwide networks that leave no region behind.

By tackling technical debt and focusing on skills, the sector can build confidence in technology to unlock the standard of care people deserve. This is a must, not a nice to have, and a key ingredient of realising the future of the NHS.

Patient technology expecations of the NHS by 2030

Digital Access and Engagement

Electronic health records accessible by patients

Automated appointment scheduling and reminders

Digital mental health support apps

Remote and Virtual Care Delivery

Virtual GP consultations via video or chat

Health and wellness coaching through digital platforms

Remote patient monitoring via wearables

Smart Infrastructure and Tech

High-speed Wi-Fi access in all care settings

Robot-assisted surgeries

Cyber-resilient IT infrastructure

AI and Predictive Technologies

Predictive analytics for early diagnosis

AI-based prediction of health risks and preventative care

AI-assisted diagnostics and treatment planning

A boost for employees and patients

In summary, secure, reliable networks allow healthcare services to:

Focus more on patients and less on tech frustrations.

Increase security and protect patient data.

Fulfil the promise of the NHS 10-Year Plan.

Drive up recruitment and retention with better tools.

Your future unlocked

BT has supported the NHS since its origins more than 75 years ago, standing alongside healthcare professionals as they respond to new pressures and rising patient demand. We know what it means to deliver better care when resources are stretched, and we bring the scale, expertise, and infrastructure to help.

Nationwide scale

As the operator of the UK’s largest network, we bring reach and reliability to hospitals, connecting everything from GP practices and community services, and ensuring seamless integration across the entire healthcare system.

Joined-up care

Our connectivity solutions give staff reliable, secure access to useful tools and patient data – wherever they are. This means patients get consistent, joined-up care in every healthcare setting.

Managed services

We can manage entire hospital estates to boost productivity and reduce staffing costs. Our robust, low-latency connectivity supports smart, sustainable hospital campuses, and we act as a systems integrator within diverse digital ecosystems.

Clinical insight

Our Clinical Advisory Board ensures every solution we design is rooted in clinical priorities, so digital services genuinely support frontline staff and improve patient outcomes.

Secure by design

With more than 3,500 dedicated security professionals, we safeguard sensitive patient data, protect against cyber threats and build resilience into dependable healthcare systems. We offer end-to-end security services, crucial given the high value of patient data on the dark web.

Future focus

We help healthcare providers build a digital footprint to deliver on the NHS Long Term Plan – enabling next-generation services such as remote patient monitoring, digital health records and AI-enabled care.

For guidance on how to plan and build your future network, get in touch.

Get in touch