Last week, we welcomed healthcare leaders, innovators, and changemakers to our Leeds HQ for a day of knowledge sharing, inspiration, and celebration. The event—Celebrating Healthcare Transformation at Scale, brought together voices from across the NHS and the wider digital health ecosystem to reflect on progress, showcase transformation in action, and look ahead to what’s possible.

Setting the scene: a day of impact

After a warm welcome and a chance to connect over refreshments, Answer Digital’s Paul Wye and Sandip Kaur opened the day by spotlighting some of the critical programmes we’ve proudly supported, including Pharmacy First, the National Data Repository, and the rollout of multiple Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs), which Health Secretary Wes Streeting hailed as “pioneering.”

The tone was clear: this was a space to celebrate progress, share learnings, and continue building momentum together.

Highlights from the stage

Sonia Patel – Embracing change to drive better care

NHS England’s Sonia Patel opened the morning with an energising keynote about adaptability in the face of rapid change. Quoting Charles Darwin—”is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one most adaptable to change". Sonia championed a future-focused, connected NHS grounded in interoperability, data, and innovation.

From digitising over half a million archived patient records to exploring AI and ambient scribes, her message was one of hope: that transformation, done right, can create safer, smarter systems—and that patients remain at the heart of every digital decision.

Laura Boyd – Driving adoption and digital confidence

In her first public appearance as Director of Digital Partnerships at Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber, Laura Boyd captured hearts and minds with her philosophy of “hand-holding the hell out of it.” For Laura, true digital transformation is 50% technology and 50% implementation—and it only works when people feel empowered to use it.

She spotlighted initiatives like, NHS App support, Daylight (a digital mental health tool for young people), and bold ideas like population health modelling via Digital Twins. Her passion for digital equity shone through.

James Insley, with support from Danielle Delaney-Anderson – Building the National Document Repository

James walked us through the journey behind the National Document Repository—a solution designed to replace the outdated Lloyd George records. Now stored centrally and made machine-readable, these documents are helping to reduce administrative burden, enable better data sharing, and unlock real cost savings across primary care.

With easy-to-use APIs and accessible UIs, it’s a simple, elegant fix to a long-standing problem—and one that could have massive system-wide impact.

Yeyenta Osasu – The untapped potential of community pharmacy

Yeyenta’s talk on pharmacy integration brought a community focus to the day. Through mystery shopper research with SACHMA and CAHN, she uncovered barriers to awareness and access for the Hypertension Case Finding Service.

Her mission? To ensure people know what services are available at their local pharmacy—often the front door to early diagnosis and better outcomes.

Francesca Markland – Learning, testing, and thriving through virtual wards

Francesca from NHSE South London’s Virtual Wards shared how COVID created space to trial virtual wards and remote monitoring at scale. Using machine learning and collaboration between suppliers, she and her team created new models of care that are already delivering strong outcomes.

For Francesca, it’s about testing boldly, learning quickly, and using that knowledge to build better, together.

Katharine North and Rebecca Morley - North Yorkshire NHS Talking Therapies 100 Day Challenge

Katharine North and Rebecca Morley’s session on mental health trailblazing was a highlight. With limited funding and ambitious goals, they ran a 100-day challenge to transform digital therapy pathways. The result? Tangible outcomes, freed-up clinician time, and a real step towards getting users the right support first time.

Daniel Eyre – Rethinking EPR innovation

Daniel offered a private sector lens on EPR innovation, urging the room to focus on people, processes and data—not just flashy tech. With hospital capacity under strain, bringing services into the community must be a priority. His message was clear: don’t start with buying new, start with understanding what you have.

Joe McDonald – SleepStation and the power of better rest

In a powerful close, Joe McDonald introduced SleepStation —a CBT-led alternative to sleep medication. Entirely remote and led by real people, not bots, the service is designed to tackle insomnia without dependency. Better sleep, better mental health, and fewer pills. A small innovation with potentially enormous impact.

Optimism on the panel

Our final session brought together voices from across the system—including Sonia Patel, Samantha Robinson, Neville Young, and Martin Carpenter—for an honest panel on “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly", hosted bu Hassan Chaudhury. Topics ranged from cybersecurity and single sign-on, to empowering people, industry collaboration, and the promise of LLMs and AI in care delivery.

The takeaway? While there’s more to do, the collective ambition in the room was undeniable. The future of healthcare is optimistic, connected and co-created—with innovation and compassion in equal measure.

Our final take aways

From the energy in the room to the richness of the discussions, the day was a testament to what’s possible when the right people come together. Change is happening, and events like this are a powerful reminder of the progress being made across the system.

To everyone who spoke, joined, contributed and sponsored the event—thank you. The road ahead is long, but together, we’re already making the future of health and care a reality.