2026 is Pivotal for the NHS Workforce, Digital Policy

THIS YEAR could be a turning point for the workforce and digital developments in NHS England. Following the release of transformative strategy documents in 2024 and 2025, the beleaguered, ageing health system is on the precipice of major changes.

Established in 1948, NHS England has in recent years been focused on reforms that will hopefully make the system more sustainable, community-oriented, and enabled for a digital future. It established ambitious goals for the year ending 31 March 2026, including a target of seeing 65% of patients on elective care waiting lists within 18 weeks and 78% of Accident and Emergency (A&E) patients within 4hours.

Per NHS England’s 2025/2026 priorities and operational planning guidance,¹ the NHS was also required to reduce its cost base by at least 1% and improve productivity by 4% to meet growing demand. In fact, “all parts of the NHS must now live within their means.”

In October 2025, NHS England published its priorities² for 2026/2027 and 2028/2029 in what it called a Medium Term Planning Framework.³ Policy analysts at the UK nonprofit King’s Fund said the framework reflects “growing expectations against a shrinking share of spending”.

“The guidance again reaffirms the government’s aim to reinstate the constitutional standard of 92% of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks for elective care by 2028/29, with an interim target of 70% by 2026/27,” wrote Katie Furbrick-Thompson, policy advisor, in a King’s Fund analysis.⁴ “Currently, more patients join the waiting list each month than receive treatment, so this will be extremely tough to achieve.”

The new guidance also wants 78% of community health services to be delivered within 18 weeks by 2026/2027 and will discuss with health professionals plans to set a new target for 90% of clinically urgent primary care cases to be seen on the same day.

Fulfilling the 10-year Plan

The medium-term framework reflects three big shifts in care outlined in the NHS 10 Year Health Plan for England,⁵ released in July 2025: hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention.

The 10-year health plan followed an independent investigation⁶ by Lord Ara Darzi, who concluded that the “NHS is in serious trouble,” depicting a system that was starved of capital, lacked enough GPs, and suffered with long waiting times, falling productivity, and “awful” emergency care.

Building on the 10 Year Health Plan, NHS England is set to release a 10-Year Workforce Plan⁷ that will reshape staffing in Spring 2026. Policy analysts at the Nuffield Trust, an independent health and social think tank in the UK, stressed the need for this new model to focus on retaining staff during training and in early career stages.

“Retention of NHS staff will continue to be a challenge,” wrote Lucina Rolewisc, researcher at the Nuffield Trust. “While some churn of staff is inevitable (due to retirement, for example), there needs to be better routine data detailing why staff leave the NHS prematurely, and where they go next.”

In its analysis of the 10-year workforce plans,⁸ King’s Fund analysts highlighted high vacancy and turnover rates: “Indicators of staff health and wellbeing, including sickness absence rates, reported risk of burnout and self-reported stress, have all worsened in recent years.”

Early Progress with New Workforce, Digital Policies

Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, reported on early progress with the 10-year health plan in December 2025. An additional 29 billion GBP has been committed over the next 3 years, “not just to patch holes, but to invest in long-term productivity and reform,” he wrote. Also, more than 2,000 doctors are “already in post,” with further expansion underway.”

Access to screening and diagnostic technology for cancer is also improving, and the NHS app is evolving, he noted.

“By 2027, the NHS will have effectively set up an ‘online hospital’ – NHS Online,” Streeting wrote. “This digital innovation will connect patients to expert clinicians anywhere in England. Already, thousands of extra appointments have been booked digitally, saving patients time and reducing administrative burdens for staff.”

Moving Fast on AI

Per the 10 Year Health Plan for England, digital technology and automation are at the heart of efficient care. In asking for input on the 10-year workforce plan, NHS England stressed the importance of “5 big bets to drive healthcare”: data, artificial intelligence, genomics and predictive analytics, wearables, and robotics.

In a reference guide about digital transformation,⁹ the NHS Confederation noted that digital technology will be a key driver of moving services out of acute settings and into communities, “helping to connect services, empower patients and support proactive care.” An estimated 70% of trusts will reach the standard for the core level of digitisation that was set out in What Good Looks Like¹⁰ framework by March 2026, according to the guide, which was published in December.

The UK has been working to develop a strong presence in AI, encouraging billions in investment¹¹ from major tech players. The government released an AI Opportunities Action Plan¹² in January 2025, outlining AI growth zones, and followed it up in October with a blueprint for AI regulation¹³ and a call for evidence¹⁴ about the development of an “AI Growth Lab” that would “oversee the deployment of AI-enabled products and services that current regulation hinders.” Responses are due by 7 January.

These trends suggest data centres will likely proliferate in 2026,¹⁵ though there could be some legal headwinds, predicted Debbie Heywood, senior counsel at the Taylor Wessing law firm in London, UK.

“There’s no achieving the government’s ambitions in AI and quantum without data centres,” Heywood wrote.

References

1. NHS England. 2025. Available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/2025-26-priorities-and-operational-planning-guidance/. Last accessed: 4 January 2026.
2. NHS England. 2025. Available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/medium-term-planning-framework-delivering-change-together-2026-27-to-2028-29/. Last accessed: 4 January 2026. Last accessed: 4 January 2026.
3. NHS England. Available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/medium-term-planning-framework-delivering-change-together-2026-27-to-2028-29.pdf. Last accessed: 4 January 2026.
4. The King’s Fund. 2025. Available at: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/blogs/nhs-priorities-2026-27-to-2028-29-system-staff-patients. Last accessed: 4 January 2026.
5. NHS England. Available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-term-plan/. Last accessed: 4 January 2026.
6. UK. 2024. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-investigation-of-the-nhs-in-england/summary-letter-from-lord-darzi-to-the-secretary-of-state-for-health-and-social-care. Last accessed: 4 January 2026.
7. UK. 2025. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/10-year-workforce-plan
8. The King’s Fund. 2025. Available at: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/long-reads/securing-nhs-workforce-future-recommendations-action. Last accessed: 4 January 2026.
9. NHS Confederation, 2025. Available at: https://www.nhsconfed.org/publications/digital-transformation-nhs-reference-guide
10. NHS England. 2021. Available at: https://transform.england.nhs.uk/digitise-connect-transform/what-good-looks-like/what-good-looks-like-publication/. Last accessed: 4 January 2026.
11. 2025. Available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/27/has-the-uks-ai-infrastructure-buildout-been-a-success.html. Last accessed: 4 January 2026.
12. UK. 2025. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-opportunities-action-plan/ai-opportunities-action-plan. Last accessed: 4 January 2026.
13. UK. 2025. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-blueprint-for-ai-regulation-could-speed-up-planning-approvals-slash-nhs-waiting-times-and-drive-growth-and-public-trust. Last accessed: 4 January 2026.
14. UK. 2025. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/ai-growth-lab/ai-growth-lab. Last accessed: 4 January 2026.
15. 2025. Available at: https://www.taylorwessing.com/en/interface/2025/predictions-2026/uk-tech-and-digital-regulatory-policy-in-2026. Last accessed: 4 January 2026.

Author: Emily Hayes, Freelance Writer and Editor