A new health collective has been launched to revolutionise the digital delivery partnership model that has long existed between the NHS and its technology partners.
Supported by public sector delivery provider Made Tech, the Made Well Collective brings together health and social care organisations through a free to use, open source platform that can be accessed by all NHS organisations, to enable co-funding, co-delivery and reuse of digital solutions by default.
In bringing together NHS organisations, and mirroring the aspirations of the Integrated Care Systems (ICSs), any NHS hospital or trust can access the Made Well Collective to:
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Freely utilise any digital solution that Made Tech has designed and built with and for the NHS, enabling projects or platforms to be reused and replicated
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Find and connect with other NHS organisations with shared priorities to pool resources and co-develop new solutions, ensuring digital tools are built once and delivered for less through a co-funding model
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Ensure solutions are built to NHS values of open standards, eliminating vendor lock-in
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Share knowledge and upskill digital teams through co-working and coaching to make co-delivery easier
Hazel Jones, Head of Health at Made Tech said: “Having worked for many years in digital service design in the NHS, I’ve seen first hand the challenges of working with technology suppliers. Decades of expensive, proprietary technology solutions have created significant blockers to innovation, resulting in legacy issues and mistrust of technology providers.
“We feel strongly that this is the right thing to do as digital delivery partners. When a tool or product has been funded with public money it should be available for other parts of the NHS to reuse and adapt to theirs and their patients’ needs. More than this, we have a responsibility to enable and nurture collaborative and open ways of working across the NHS, ensuring every service has the ability to provide the best care possible. With the Made Well Collective, we will change the model of engagement to further help the NHS to achieve a core level of digitisation.”
