Preparing Cambridge Children’s Hospital: Building the Digital Foundations for a Whole New Way of Delivering Children’s Healthcare

Executive Summary

Cambridge Children’s Hospital (CCH) is redefining how children's healthcare will be delivered across the East of England and beyond. Delivered in partnership with Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH), Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT), and the University of Cambridge (UoC), CCH will be a world-first, integrating physical and mental healthcare together under one roof. Bringing together world-leading research, specialist clinical services and a 'Whole New Way' of delivering care, the hospital will support closer collaboration across the region and improve access to specialist services for children and young people closer to home.

Realising this vision requires more than a new building. It requires digital systems that support integrated care, enable secure information sharing and evolve alongside new models of clinical practice.

CCH commissioned Healthcare Innovation Consortium (HIC) to provide an independent assessment of its existing digital landscape. The objective was to ensure technology would support the hospital's clinical ambitions, identify where change was required and provide a clear direction for future investment. Through clinical engagement, process mapping and digital architecture design, HIC developed a digital blueprint and strategic roadmap to guide the next phase of the programme.

As Kas Russell-Surtees, Digital Programme Manager, explains:

"The Cambridge Children's Hospital programme presents a unique opportunity to transform how care is delivered for children and young people across the East of England. HIC's work provided valuable independent assurance that our digital strategy aligns with our clinical vision, helping us identify the capabilities, priorities and investment required to support integrated care across organisational boundaries. The resulting blueprint gives us a clear foundation for making informed decisions as we progress towards delivering a whole new way of providing care."

The Challenge

The new hospital represents far more than a relocation of services. It provides an opportunity to redesign how children's healthcare is delivered by integrating physical and mental healthcare and research, strengthening collaboration across the region and creating services centred on the needs of children, young people and their families.

That vision has been shaped through extensive engagement with clinicians, children, young people and families, including the Cambridge Children’s Hospital Young Forum, Young Adult Forum and Parent Carer Voice. Along with engagement with staff, their insights helped define a new model of care that places patients before organisational boundaries and supports closer collaboration between services.

Parent Advocate Andy Bush, who has represented regional families on the digital workstream, said:

“Children, young people, parents and carers shared feedback about issues they faced during their time in hospital. We have worked hard to try to ensure that the new hospital addresses these issues, always thinking ahead to what technologies and services might be available in the 2030s. We have thought about how parents can continue working from the hospital while supporting their children; how to improve connections with family and friends back home; accessing entertainment systems; and how patients and carers can be kept updated on clinical appointments and issues in a timely manner.”

While CUH and CPFT already had established digital systems, those systems had evolved to support existing services rather than the hospital’s future operating model. The question was no longer whether those systems could be moved into a new hospital. It was whether they could support integrated care, enable secure information sharing and provide the digital foundations needed to deliver the partnership’s ambitions.

CCH therefore sought independent assurance that its digital strategy aligned with its clinical vision. HIC was commissioned to assess the existing landscape, identify strategic risks and opportunities, and recommend how technology should evolve to support future service delivery.

Creating the Digital Blueprint

HIC began by understanding how care would be delivered before considering the technology required to support it.

Working alongside clinicians, operational teams and digital leaders across the partnership, HIC explored future services through interviews, workshops and clinical process mapping. These insights challenged existing ways of working, informed future patient pathways and defined the digital capabilities needed to support the hospital's operating model.

Building on these insights, HIC assessed how technology, governance and information sharing should evolve to support safe, integrated care. Particular attention was given to interoperability, cross-organisational working and the legislative requirements associated with the Mental Health Act, ensuring recommendations balanced clinical safety with operational practicality.

Rather than recommending individual systems in isolation, HIC developed a strategic digital blueprint that defined how information should flow securely across organisations while maintaining a single, authoritative clinical record. The engagement concluded with a phased implementation roadmap that provides the Trust with clear priorities for implementation and future investment.

Realising the Vision

HIC's assessment gave CCH and its partners the confidence that its digital strategy could support its clinical vision.

The engagement identified where existing systems could support future services, where investment would deliver the greatest value and how information should be shared safely across organisational boundaries. It established clear priorities for implementation, reduced delivery risk and provided senior leaders with an evidence-based foundation for future decision-making.

Most importantly, the programme aligned digital strategy with service transformation. The partnership now has a clear blueprint for delivering digital capabilities that enable its 'Whole New Way' of providing care, supporting stronger regional collaboration, improving access to specialist services and helping more children and young people receive care closer to home.