Our purpose

As the first of its kind, the Patient Coalition for AI, Data and Digital Tech in Health, established in 2021, unites a truly diverse group of patient groups, charities, Royal Colleges, NHS England and industry with a focus on championing the patient perspective in digital health.

Involving patients in policy

Currently, not enough is being done to ensure that patients are included in the evolving policy discussions surrounding the development, implementation or evaluation of digital health technologies in the UK. In fact, there is limited understanding of what patients actually want from digital health. The danger is that these technologies end up as something done ‘to’ patients rather than ‘with’ and ‘for’ them. 

In addition to providing a forum for discussion, this Coalition will act as an independent campaigning coalition, taking forward joint pieces of work and engaging actively to help influence Government and NHS policy on the use of digital technology in healthcare. The goal will be to ensure patient interests are at the forefront of ongoing policy discussions surrounding digital health technology, and being incorporated into the policymaking process. The goal is to cultivate the necessary policy conditions to enable the UK to capitalise on new digital health technologies to the benefit of patients and the NHS.

Coalition agenda

The Coalition will work to provide insights and influence the policymaking process to progress this agenda by:

• Identifying gaps in the evidence and conducting research to offer novel insights on patient priorities in digital health
• Developing policy recommendations
• Engaging with Government stakeholders and other policymakers to advocate and campaign for system improvements.

Our manifesto

Read our manifesto, including how we plan to put the patient first ensuring that patient priorities lie at the heart of digital health policy.

Read our reports

Digital Health during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Learning Lessons to Maintain Momentum.

Putting patients first: championing good practice in combatting digital health inequalities,

Coalition Chair

The Patients Association

Sponsor

Boehringer Ingelheim

Secretariat

The Patients Association. For more information about the Coalition, please contact us at [email protected].