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THE PRESSURE IN NUMBERS: In August 2026, England recorded approximately 2.34 million A&E attendances, with only 75% of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours, against the 78% target.
In August 2026, England recorded approximately 2.34 million A&E attendances, with only 75% of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours, against the 78% target. The same month, an average of 2,973 patients a day experienced corridor care across emergency departments and other hospital areas. Meanwhile, only 64% of hospital appointments were visible through the NHS App in April 2026. These figures highlight the pressure on acute services and the need for connected patient records, accessible digital patient portals and integration with the NHS App to support communication across the care pathway. NHS England
The numbers, at a glance:
Metric | Figure |
A&E attendances in England (August 2026) | ~2.34m |
Patients seen within 4 hours | 75% (target 78%) |
Patients a day experiencing corridor care (Aug 2026) | 2,973 |
Hospital appointments visible via NHS App (Apr 2026) | 64% |
The NHS 10 Year Health Plan for England sets out three strategic shifts: hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention. Cellma aligns with this direction by supporting connected clinical information, digital patient access and interoperability across healthcare services. As the NHS moves towards a Single Patient Record accessible through the NHS App from 2028, healthcare providers need technology that can exchange information securely and support continuity across organisational boundaries. NHS 10 Year Health Plan
A patient’s journey rarely stays within one department. Someone arriving at A&E may need assessment, diagnostic investigations, specialist input, admission, transfer to a ward and, eventually, discharge with follow-up in the community.
At every stage, the next team may depend on information recorded by someone else. That could include presenting symptoms, allergies, medication, observations, investigation results, clinical decisions, referral details or discharge instructions.
When information sits in separate systems, staff may need to search across applications, make repeated phone calls or ask patients to explain their history again. Important details can be difficult to locate, and handovers may take longer than expected.
Clinical communication in acute care is therefore about more than sending a message. Information must reach the right people, remain accessible when needed and support the next clinical or operational action.
For busy NHS teams, this means connecting the systems behind:
The aim is to give authorised staff the information they need without adding unnecessary steps to already pressured workflows.
Cellma is an AI-powered EHR/HIMS platform designed to bring patient information and healthcare processes together within the wider Cellma Ecosystem.
Rather than treating registration, clinical documentation, referrals, bed management and discharge as isolated activities, Cellma connects related information and workflows across the patient journey.
For acute care providers, this supports a more connected digital environment in which teams can access relevant patient information, manage pathway activity and maintain visibility of the steps that follow an admission or clinical decision.
Cellma can support the wider requirements of clinical communication in acute care through capabilities including:
Capability | What It Does |
Connected patient records | Keep relevant clinical information linked to the patient record |
Admissions and bed management | Support visibility of patient movement, transfers and bed-related processes |
Referral management | Help teams track referral activity and the next stage of the pathway |
Discharge workflows | Connect discharge activity with relevant patient information and onward-care processes |
Reporting and analytics | Bring clinical and operational information together to support service-level visibility |
Patient portals | Provide digital access to appropriate health information and services, subject to configuration and integration requirements |
These capabilities help address the practical challenge facing acute services: keeping information connected while patients move between departments, teams and care settings.
A connected platform must also work within the wider NHS digital environment. Hospitals use different clinical, administrative and national systems, and replacing every application is rarely a realistic option.
Interoperability allows information to be exchanged between systems while maintaining appropriate controls over access, meaning and security.
Relevant NHS integration capabilities and standards include:
Standard / Integration | What It Supports |
HL7 and FHIR | Support structured exchange of healthcare information |
FHIR UK Core and Care Connect | Provide UK healthcare data models and implementation guidance where applicable |
REST and Open APIs | Enable systems to exchange information through defined interfaces |
NHS Spine services | Support relevant national services and patient-information exchanges, subject to interface and access requirements |
PDS and SCR | Support appropriate patient-demographic and summary-care information exchanges |
GP Connect and MESH | Enable relevant information-sharing and messaging workflows |
EPS and e-RS | Support electronic prescription and referral pathways where applicable |
CIS2 and role-based access | Support identity, authentication and controlled access within the relevant NHS environment |
IMPORTANT NOTE: The appropriate interfaces depend on the service, deployment, technical scope and NHS approval requirements. Not every interface is required or enabled in every implementation.
For clinical communication in acute care, interoperability is important because a referral, discharge summary or clinical update may need to move beyond the originating department. Connected systems can reduce reliance on manual re-entry and help authorised teams access relevant information through established workflows.
Interoperability must be supported by strong information governance. Clinical information is sensitive, and sharing it across services requires clear access controls, accountability and appropriate technical safeguards.
Cellma’s security and compliance framework includes relevant controls and standards such as:
Standard / Control | Purpose |
ISO 27001 | Information security management |
Cyber Essentials Plus | Independently assessed cyber-security controls |
NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) | NHS data security requirements |
UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 | Personal-data protection |
Role-based access controls, multi-factor authentication and audit trails | Support controlled access and accountability |
DCB0129 and DCB0160 | Clinical-risk management standards, as applicable to the product and deploying organisation |
DTAC | Assessment requirements for relevant digital health technologies |
IMPORTANT NOTE: These standards and requirements have different scopes; their applicability depends on the product, implementation and organisation. They should be verified against the specific deployment rather than assumed to apply automatically to every interface or module.
Strong governance helps healthcare organisations establish who can access information, how activity is recorded and how risks are managed. This is essential when clinical information needs to be available across teams without compromising confidentiality or patient safety.
Communication also extends beyond staff-to-staff handovers. Patients need clear information about appointments, referrals, follow-up and the next steps in their care.
A patient portal can provide access to appropriate health information and digital services, reducing dependence on paper correspondence and helping patients stay informed. When connected to the underlying clinical and administrative systems, portal information can reflect relevant pathway activity rather than functioning as a separate digital destination.
The NHS App is central to the government’s plans for digital access. NHS England reported in April 2026 that the App was connected to every acute NHS trust in England, with around two-thirds of hospital appointments visible through it. The government’s longer-term ambition is for patients to access their Single Patient Record securely through the App from 2028. NHS England; NHS Single Patient Record
Cellma’s patient portal capabilities and relevant NHS integration options can support this direction, subject to the required interfaces, configuration and approvals. The objective is to connect patient-facing access with the clinical and administrative information that supports care, not to create another isolated system.
Digital access should also complement existing communication routes. Patients who cannot or do not wish to use digital services still need appropriate ways to receive important information.
When records and updates sit across different systems, staff may spend time locating information before they can act. Cellma connects relevant patient records and workflows to support access to the information required for care.
A&E, inpatient teams, specialists and discharge services depend on information from one another. Connected records, referrals and workflows help maintain visibility as responsibility moves between teams.
Bed availability, transfers, discharge plans and referrals all influence capacity. Cellma’s bed-management and reporting capabilities support operational visibility of these related processes.
A discharge is not simply the completion of a document. It may involve medication information, follow-up, referrals and communication with community services. Connected discharge workflows help keep these steps linked to the wider patient journey.
Patients increasingly expect to view relevant information and manage parts of their care digitally. Patient portals and appropriate NHS App integration can support this shift while keeping access aligned with information-governance requirements.
AI and language technologies are becoming increasingly relevant to clinical documentation and decision support. The NHS has announced plans to expand the use of AI notetaking tools to help reduce administrative work for staff. NHS England
Within healthcare technology, AI, Automated Voice Transcription (AVT) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) can support different parts of the information lifecycle:
Technology | Role |
AI | Can support decision-support capabilities and help identify relevant information, depending on the application |
AVT | Can convert spoken information into text for appropriate documentation workflows |
NLP | Can process clinical language and help structure or identify relevant information within text |
IMPORTANT NOTE: These technologies need appropriate clinical validation, governance and human oversight. They should support—not replace—clinical judgement.
When considered alongside connected patient records and interoperable workflows, these capabilities can help organisations manage clinical information more effectively. Their value depends on how well they fit existing workflows, data quality and the needs of frontline teams.
Acute care depends on decisions made across departments, services and care settings. When information does not follow the patient journey, staff can face additional searches, repeated communication and avoidable uncertainty about the next step.
Clinical communication in acute care requires more than messaging tools. It needs connected patient records, interoperable systems, clear referral and discharge workflows, secure information sharing and accessible digital services.
Cellma brings these capabilities together within a wider healthcare ecosystem, supporting patient information and operational processes across the acute care pathway. With relevant NHS integration options, patient portal capabilities, security controls and support for emerging AI technologies, Cellma can help organisations build a digital foundation aligned with their clinical and operational requirements.
From A&E to the ward. From discharge to community care. Keep information connected across the journey.
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Cellma connects patient records, clinical documentation, referrals, admissions, bed management and discharge workflows within a healthcare platform. This helps authorised teams access relevant information across departments and supports continuity throughout the patient journey.
Cellma supports healthcare interoperability through standards and interfaces such as HL7, FHIR, REST and Open APIs. Patient portal and NHS App integration options depend on the required interfaces, configuration and NHS approvals, helping organisations plan connected digital access to appropriate patient information.
Cellma supports bed management, patient movement, referral tracking, discharge workflows and operational reporting. By connecting these processes, it helps teams gain visibility of pathway activity and coordinate the next steps in care across acute and onward services.
