NHSX is preparing to lead a Digital Child Health and Maternity Programme.
It is making the move in support of the NHS England and Improvement Maternity Transformation Programme and the Children and Young People Programme, and has begun to sound out the supplier market on the various digital services available to shape future procurement framework.
The market notice indicates that the priorities are to: give women and their families access to curated information and their personal data; improve patient safety by providing clinicians with timely information at point of care; and reduce the need for data entry through supporting pregnancies.
NHSX says the technology should support care from pre-conception through pregnancy to post-natal care, and that it is interested in how it can help to reduce health inequalities.
It is looking for suppliers to provide feedback by 9 July.
The plan marks a significant step forwards in the support of maternity care, following on from the introduction in 2018 of a standard for digital maternity records.
Image from iStock, Liudmila Fudseyeva
