IBM Guest Blog: How Neighbourhood-Based Care Could Transform Healthcare for the Future?

What will be needed in the NHS 10 year plan to address the increasing pressures on the NHS and performance challenges? There is a general agreement that a significantly different approach is required to address the demands of our aging population and the increasing prevalence of chronic disease. There will be a number of components to the answer, but one important element is a commitment to digitally enabled neighbourhood working.

A neighbourhood approach matches services to the unique needs of local groups within communities delivered close to people’s homes. It focuses on prevention and early intervention and works in partnership with the community to share the challenge of increasing demand. Blending digital innovation with on-the-ground collaboration, neighbourhoods are providing a glimpse of what the future of healthcare could look like—more efficient, more human, and more connected.

What is Digitally enabled Neighbourhood-Based Care?

The goals are to maximise self-care, minimise specialist service use, and promote personalised prevention by harnessing assets in the community. The approach combines traditional in-person healthcare with digital enablers to provide personalised, coordinated care. By integrating both local community resources and advanced digital tools, neighbourhood-based care empowers local populations to better manage their health and well-being.

The vision behind neighbourhood-based care goes beyond managing illness. It aims to support everyone in improving their healthy lifespan or "Healthspan," and to promote overall wellness. A neighbourhood-based prevention that leverages local knowledge and assets is key to this transformation, focusing on health promotion and wellness rather than simply treating illness.

At its heart, digitally enabled neighbourhood-based care ensures that patients and local communities are not only at the centre of healthcare decisions but are also equipped with the tools and resources to take charge of their own health journey.

The Role of Digital Enablers

Technology plays a pivotal role in bringing neighbourhood-based care to life. Key digital enablers include:

1. Personal Health, Social Care, and Unified Medication Record (PHR): An integrated record that captures all care interactions in one place, empowering patients to manage their own care.

2. Population Health Management (PHM) Analytics and Segmentation Tool: This tool allows healthcare providers to tailor care plans based on the specific needs of different populations, improving overall care effectiveness.

3. Care Navigation and Directory of Services (DoS): A user-friendly AI driven tool that helps both patients and healthcare staff quickly find local services, making referrals and access to care more seamless.

4. Care Orchestration Layer: This platform automates care processes and integrates remote patient monitoring, so that patients receive the right care at the right time in the right place —whether in person or virtually.

The Future of NHS Care: NHS 3.0?

As the NHS’s 10-year health plan unfolds, the conversation around neighbourhood-based care will grow louder. While there’s bound to be plenty of debate about the details, there’s also much we can agree on. This model provides a golden opportunity to create a new operating model for the NHS – an NHS 3.0. One that is powered by digital tools, that fully enables prevention, personalisation, and participation.

The journey to this future will require the NHS to let go a little, be more permissive in design, more outward looking and collaborative and to be bold enough to rethink care enabled by technology. In this new world of NHS 3.0 the NHS will need to avoid the trap of thinking it has to control or be responsible for everything.

The transformation is just beginning, and as the NHS embarks on a new 10-Year plan the future of digitally enabled neighbourhood-based care looks increasingly important.

Authors:

Dr. Mark Davies BSc FRCP FRCGP, Chief Health Officer, IBM

Alexis Edwards, RN BSN, MBA, Associate Partner and Clinical Safety Officer, IBM

You can learn more about IBM’s viewpoint on digitally-enabled neighbourhood-based care in our recently published paper: https://ibm.biz/digitallyenabledneighbourhoods2025'

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