What does the NHS Medium-Term Plan mean for suppliers?

The NHS Medium Term Planning Framework is bold about productivity, access and quality. However, we only get there if patients can do more for themselves, sooner. The biggest opportunity as far as I can see is to widen the use of patient facing technology, supporting more effective self-management, and supporting the delivery of key targets such as elective recovery by enabling better patient-readiness and reducing wasted procedures.

Afterall, that’s the job of patient-facing digital health, right - to empower patients to manage their own care and reduce their reliance of front-line services?

For this blog, I’ve been thinking a lot about the new medium term plan, how that follows the 10 year plan from earlier this year, and where the biggest opportunities are for suppliers to support the delivery of both. 

The NHS App is becoming the front door 

From April 2026, systems are expected to fully adopt existing NHS App capabilities, including making at least 95% of appointments available after appropriate triage via the App. That’s a huge shift from “some things online” to “most journeys begin on your phone.”  

The direction of travel is a unified access model: supporting by innovation such as AI-assisted triage, that guides people to self-care or the right service through a single interface, the NHS App, and backed by telephony and in-person routes for those who need them.  

Why it matters: done well, this reduces future demand, gets people to the right service first time, streamlines journeys and improves experience, exactly the outcomes the plan is banking on.  

Outpatients are being rewired, patient tools make it real 

The plan talks of digital triage, remote interactions, and “significantly” fewer routine follow-ups so capacity flows to first appointments and diagnostics. Patient-facing features (questionnaires, reminders, results, PIFU) are the mechanisms that make those pathways stick.  

A practical detail many miss: by 2028/29, providers should have patients managing medicines, viewing waiting times, and completing pre/post-appointment questionnaires, and digital follow ups in place. If these flows aren’t easy for patients, we simply won’t see the intended capacity release.  

Urgent & emergency gets “digital-first” too 

Systems are asked to push towards a structured, digital-first urgent and emergency care model, appointments and scheduling aligned to clinical priority so A&E’s can focus on the sickest patients. Patient-led access and triage is how you separate true emergencies from problems best handled elsewhere.   

Don’t forget the boring (powerful) stuff: notifications 

All patient messaging is moving to NHS Notify, with App push as the preferred channel. That’s better reach, lower cost, and fewer lost letters! Quiet wins that enable the headline targets.  

Data Capability, so patient journeys actually flow 

By 2028/29, acute, community and mental health providers should be onboarded to the Federated Data Platform (FDP). Patient-facing digital plugs into this plumbing so triage, booking, diagnostics and discharge can be coordinated end-to-end.  

And when systems lean in, it pays off: trusts using the FDP have seen ~114 more elective surgeries per month and a 35% reduction in delayed discharge days. Exactly the kind of productivity boost the plan expects.  

Targets that depend on patient-facing digital 

• Primary care access: aim for 90% same-day appointments for clinically urgent patients. Without digital triage, online requests and transparent next steps, that’s a hard promise to keep.  

• Urgent & emergency: trusts to improve to 82% A&E 4-hour by Mar-27, moving to 85% as the national average across 2028/29; Category 2 ambulances to 18 minutes by end of 2028/29. Clear communication, triage and alternatives in the App reduce unnecessary A&E demand.  

• Planned care: return to 92% within 18 weeks (RTT) and bring diagnostics waits down to no more than 1% over 6 weeks. (which hinges on smarter referrals, improving patient readiness, patient-managed bookings and PIFU)  

So what should “good” patient-facing digital look like? 

Here’s a quick checklist grounded in the Framework: 

• App-first journeys: triage → booking → questionnaires → digital PIFU inside NHS App flows; keep phone lines and walk-in as inclusive alternatives.  

• Proactive comms: migrate to NHS Notify and use App push for instructions, prep and follow-up.  

• Transparency: show waiting times, options and next steps; let people self-serve safely where appropriate.  

• Joined-up data: plan your FDP mappings early so patient actions (forms completed, readings uploaded, slots accepted) flow to the teams who need them.  

• Safety and guardrails: if you’re delivering “digital therapeutics” or AI-enabled features, expect clinical governance and, where applicable, Class 2a-level controls. Build your safety case and monitoring plan into the product.  

The trust layer: Assurance 

Everything above lives or dies on trust. Commissioners will ask: is it safe, private, effective, inclusive, etc. - and crucially - can you prove it?

That’s where structured assurance (e.g.ORCHA Assured) helps ensure patient-facing solutions are deployable, buyer-ready and with clear claims and risk management. Pair your App flows with assurance artefacts and you de-risk adoption. 

Summary 

The Framework isn’t just a policy document; it’s a product brief. If we want shorter waits, calmer A&E’s and better experiences, we need to make it radically easier for people to start, manage and complete their care digitally, with clear fallbacks when they can’t. Do that well, and the big ambitions start looking achievable rather than aspirational.