Digital Front Door Programme queries: FOI Review

Information requested

Original request 202500457528

1). Which specific agencies, Health Boards, Innovation Centres and Government departments across Scotland have provided design and delivery support using public funding into the Digital Front Door programme and earlier forms of this programme (such as the NHS Scotland app) for the years from 2021/22 to 2024/25 inclusive? Please provide a breakdown by partner/contributor.

2). How much funding (total) has been provided to private, commercial and industry partners (split by ‘based in Scotland’ and ‘outside of Scotland’) to date in the design and delivery of the Digital Front Door programme and earlier forms of this programme over the years from 2021 to 2024/25 inclusive?

3). How much public money has been spent in total to date over the years from 2021/22 to 2024/25 inclusive on the Digital Front Door Programme and earlier forms of this programme (such as the NHS Scotland app)? Please provide a breakdown by year.

4). How much additional money is the Scottish Government currently budgeting to complete the delivery of the Digital Front Door programme over the next five years to 2030? Please provide a breakdown by year and include a split between funding to be provided to public versus private partners.

5). Please confirm if the Scottish Government are aware of any Scottish based industry partners/innovators already providing technology with similar features and benefits to the aspirations of the Digital Front Door Programme, such as multi-directional digital communications, shared care record system, interoperability between multiple services in health and community care settings.

6). Please provide a summary of the annual estimated benefits (in terms of patients outcomes, cost efficiency savings, and economic gain) that has currently been modelled by the Scottish Government in the support of the roll out of the Digital Front Door Programme. Please include the annual anticipated cost of servicing and running the Digital Front Door technology and applications to the Scottish population.

Response

I have now completed my review of our response to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for information regarding the Digital Front Door programme.

My review is of the handling of the following aspects of your original FOI request:

'3. How much public money has been spent in total to date over the years from 2021/22 to 2024/25 inclusive on the Digital Front Door Programme and earlier forms of this programme (such as the NHS Scotland app). Please provide a breakdown by year.'

'5. Please confirm if the Scottish Government are aware of any Scottish based industry partners/innovators already providing technology with similar features and benefits to the aspirations of the Digital Front Door Programme, such as multi-directional digital communications, shared care record system, interoperability between multiple services in health and community care settings.'

I have concluded that the original decision to release information should be confirmed, with supplementary background information provided. The reasons for this are:

• The correct procedures were followed in responding to your request within the statutory deadline.
• Relevant information was identified and provided without applying any exemptions or engaging the public interest test;
• Whilst the response answered your request for information, additional explanation and context may have better answered your questions.
• In relation to question 3, the information you received included the total funding Scottish Government have provided NES for Digital Front Door, including the plans for the NHS Scotland app. The response included information on the amount spent by NHS Education Scotland and funding for the CivTech Challenge 9.8 (which was only partly relevant to the DFD.) This demonstrates an attempt to interpret the question broadly and the challenge of giving a breakdown of total spend on the DFD programme is adequately explained. The information provided via links in the original response was provided outwith FOISA legislation. If you require any further information on this matter then you should submit a new request.

Your request for a review of question 3 states that you are not satisfied that we provided an accurate account of total spend on the Digital Front Door programme. You requested a review of how 'earlier forms of this programme (such as the NHS Scotland app)' were included and claim that there is inconsistency with other publicly available material. My review is of the handling of the original request, you can raise points of dissatisfaction about publicly available information if you do not believe it to be accurate via the Scottish Government’s complaints process: Make a complaint - gov.scot. In my opinion, the request for information was handled appropriately. I hope that the following background information helps to clarify the rationale for this assessment:

• As you highlight there are a range of existing digital apps and services used in the delivery of health and social care services, including the NHS24 symptom checker app and Covid Status app.
• Our plans to deliver the NHS Scotland App (also referred to as the Health and Social Care app or MyNHS App) sit within the wider Digital Front Door programme which is itself part of the overall commitment to establish a National Digital Platform (NDP).
• The objectives of the NDP are (1) delivering good quality clinical data at the point of care (2) having a predictable architecture that allows for innovation and spread; and (3) the capability to utilise data at scale to support research, quality and efficiency.
• As outlined in the refreshed Digital Health and Care Strategy (2021) the NDP is not a single product but a collaborative and integrated approach to delivering cloud-based digital components and capabilities that will play a significant role in our health and care digital ecosystem.
• The 2021 strategy commits to developing an approach to enable people to navigate their way through services including via a safe, simple and secure digital app. The clear aim of the app would be to support people to access information and services directly – like a ‘digital front door’.
• Following publication of the 2021 strategy the Digital Front Door programme was established to deliver this commitment using the NDP integrated approach.
• On 27 January 2025, the First Minister confirmed the health and social care app would initially be available in Lanarkshire from December 2025 before wider roll out across Scotland. This was reaffirmed in the recent publication of Programme for Government 2025-26.
• In answer to the question within your request for a review, there has not been a decision to 'shelve the App and rebrand this programme as the DFD.’
• Whilst previous publications and parliamentary responses mention the app using different names, the overarching Digital Front Door programme has been consistently named.
• We are aware that the term Digital Front Door is used beyond our programme and could be confused with other products. We are keen to get the name for the new service right and so work is underway to review the name and branding.

Your request for a review of question 5 claims that the original response does not answer the question. In my opinion, the response does answer your question as it confirms that the 'Scottish Government are aware of the wide range of suppliers' who (as per your question) 'provide technology with similar features and benefits to the aspiration of the Digital Front Door Programme.' Your request for a review indicates that you are interested in knowing ‘whether or not public bodies chose to develop internally versus choosing to collaborate and source with industry.’ This is not articulated within the original FOI request, however, I hope that the following explanation helps to address this aspect of your request for a review:

• NHS Education Scotland (NES) are a key partner in ensuring delivery of digital services and capabilities across Scotland.
• On the basis of previous work taken forward by NES using agile, cloud-based, in-house approaches to technology development, the Scottish Government asked NES to host the work to develop the NDP.
• They subsequently supported the pandemic response using the capabilities built from the NDP, developing key data and infrastructure that is utilised nationally for service delivery and public benefit.
• Having this essential infrastructure and capacity places NES in a strong position to deliver the capabilities required for the Digital Front Door Programme whilst also bringing in digital workforce capabilities.
• As delivery lead, NES has licence to bring in additional support where it identifies a requirement to do so, including technical expertise from industry and/or different technology solutions where required, which is to be expected within the programme of this scale.
• This aligns with the cross-sector Digital Strategy (2021) where national and local Government committed to working together to create common solutions that can be re-used and deployed with ease across the public sector rather than creating bespoke solutions.
• It should be noted that all Health Boards in Scotland are expected to play a pivotal role in ensuring the Digital Front Door’s successful adoption and implementation.

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