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THE ADOPTION GAP: 70% of physicians cited difficulties integrating AI with existing systems as a barrier to adoption, and only 19% reported that AI supported clinical decision-making in their organisation.
92.5% general and acute bed occupancy in Q4 2025/26. 70% of physicians cited difficulties integrating AI with existing systems as a barrier to adoption. 65% identified poor interoperability, 73% raised concerns about AI errors, and only 19% reported that AI supported clinical decision-making in their organisation. By April 2026, the NHS App was connected to every acute NHS trust in England, with around 41 million registered users and 64% of hospital appointments visible through the app.
The numbers, at a glance:
Metric | Figure |
General and acute bed occupancy (Q4 2025/26) | 92.5% |
Physicians citing AI integration difficulties as a barrier | 70% |
Physicians identifying poor interoperability | 65% |
Physicians raising concerns about AI errors | 73% |
Physicians reporting AI supported clinical decision-making | 19% |
NHS App registered users (April 2026) | ~41m |
Hospital appointments visible through the NHS App | 64% |
These figures highlight the challenge: hospitals need connected clinical systems, accessible patient information, effective patient portals and appropriate NHS App integration to support safe, coordinated acute care.
The NHS 10 Year Health Plan sets an ambition for hospitals to become fully AI-enabled within the plan’s lifetime, alongside a wider shift from analogue to digital care. At Cellma, we align with this direction by supporting a connected approach to healthcare information, clinical workflows and digital access. The future of AI and clinical decision support system technology depends not only on algorithms, but also on reliable data, interoperable systems, clinical safety and technology that fits the way healthcare teams work.
Acute care teams make time-critical decisions every day. When a patient arrives at A&E, clinicians may need to review medical history, current observations, medication, allergies, previous investigations and information from other care settings. They also need to coordinate assessments, referrals, transfers, bed allocation and discharge.
When this information is held across systems that do not communicate effectively, staff may have to switch between screens, search for missing details or repeat administrative tasks. This can make handovers harder and delay access to the information needed for clinical review.
An AI and clinical decision support system can help clinicians interpret relevant information, identify potential risks and support decisions when appropriately designed and implemented. However, its usefulness depends on the quality, completeness and accessibility of the underlying data. AI cannot reliably compensate for information that is missing, outdated or inaccessible.
The Royal College of Physicians’ January 2026 findings reinforce the point. Alongside integration and interoperability barriers, physicians reported concerns about clinical errors, liability, model drift, bias and explainability. Safe implementation therefore requires clinical oversight, suitable governance, staff training and clear accountability, not simply the introduction of another digital tool.
Patient access is another part of the connected care picture. The NHS App gives people access to services such as appointment information, prescriptions, test results and patient records. NHS England reported in April 2026 that around two-thirds of hospital appointments were visible through the app, with patients at every acute NHS trust in England able to access referral and appointment information.
A connected patient portal can complement this national access by giving patients an appropriate digital route to information and services offered by their healthcare provider. Depending on implementation, this may include appointment details, selected health information, communications and access to relevant records.
For acute care providers, the goal is to reduce avoidable information gaps between patients, clinicians and services.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Patient portals and NHS App integration are not interchangeable: integration with the NHS App requires NHS onboarding, NHS Login where applicable, and compliance with the relevant standards for accessibility, usability, clinical safety and data privacy. Secondary-care appointment integration may also involve the Patient Care Aggregator, known as Wayfinder.
When planned around clinical and operational requirements, patient-facing digital services can form part of a wider approach to connected care. They can sit alongside the clinical information and workflows that support assessment, communication and care coordination.
Interoperability is the ability of systems to exchange information and use it across organisational and software boundaries. For acute care, this means making relevant information available to authorised professionals when and where it is needed. An AI and clinical decision support system also depends on data being exchanged in a consistent, secure and usable format.
NHS England identifies standards and services that support this exchange. Depending on the use case, relevant requirements and integrations can include:
Standard / Service | What It Supports |
FHIR UK Core and HL7 | Standards supporting structured healthcare data exchange and interoperability |
REST APIs and NHS API standards | Approaches for connecting digital services and exchanging data |
GP Connect | Enables authorised staff to access specified GP clinical information across systems, subject to access rules and the relevant implementation |
Spine services | Including the Personal Demographics Service (PDS) and Summary Care Record (SCR), where appropriate to the use case |
SNOMED CT | Structured clinical terminology for recording clinical information |
ICD-10 and dm+d | Standards used for disease classification and medicines and devices terminology, respectively, where applicable |
NHS number and ODS codes | Supporting patient identification and organisation identification in relevant workflows |
CIS2 and role-based access control (RBAC) | Relevant to secure access and identity management in NHS environments |
NHS App integration standards | Requirements for eligible patient-facing services, including privacy, accessibility, usability and clinical safety |
MESH and other approved messaging or data-exchange routes | Where required by the relevant NHS service and integration design |
IMPORTANT NOTE: Not every system requires every interface. The correct integration scope depends on the clinical use case, the sending and receiving systems, information governance, technical specifications and national service onboarding. NHS England advises that systems should use agreed APIs and FHIR UK Core where appropriate, alongside relevant clinical terminology standards.
Cellma is an EHR platform designed to bring clinical and operational capabilities together within the Cellma Ecosystem. For organisations considering AI and clinical decision support system technology, the priority is to establish a connected information environment that supports clinicians and operational teams.
Cellma’s capabilities include:
Capability | What It Supports |
Patient records and clinical documentation | Supporting access to relevant patient information within the system’s configured workflows |
Patient Administration System (PAS) | Supporting registration, appointments and administrative processes |
Bed management and patient flow | Supporting visibility of bed-related information and coordination across admissions, transfers and discharge |
Referrals and care coordination | Supporting the movement of relevant information between services, subject to configured workflows and interfaces |
Medicines and prescribing workflows | Supporting electronic prescribing and related medicines processes |
Reporting and business intelligence | Helping authorised users review operational and service information |
Patient portals and digital access | Cellma’s portal capabilities can support provider-specific digital services, with integration requirements assessed for each deployment |
Interoperability | APIs and standards-based interfaces can support connections with external systems where the required technical configuration, assurance and approvals are in place |
Together, these capabilities can help organisations address common operational issues: information spread across systems, limited visibility across patient pathways, repeated data entry and difficulty coordinating clinical and administrative tasks. The specific workflows and interfaces available depend on the deployed modules and integration scope.
An AI and clinical decision support system should be evaluated on more than its algorithms. Healthcare organisations need to consider whether data is sufficiently complete, whether information can be exchanged safely, how recommendations are presented, and how clinicians can review and act on outputs.
For example, a clinician assessing a patient in A&E may need current observations alongside relevant history, medicines and information from earlier encounters. A suitably integrated decision-support tool may help surface information or flag potential risks for clinical review. The clinician must still assess the context and make the appropriate decision.
This requires attention to data quality, access permissions, auditability, clinical risk management and ongoing monitoring. In the NHS, clinical safety standards such as DCB0129 for manufacturers of health IT systems and DCB0160 for deploying organisations are important considerations where applicable. Information governance and security requirements, including the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT), UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and relevant identity and access controls, must also be addressed according to the deployment and service scope.
Cellma’s security and interoperability approach includes recognised standards and controls such as ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, role-based access, multi-factor authentication and audit trails. Organisations should assess the specific product configuration, evidence and assurance documentation against their procurement, clinical safety and information governance requirements.
IMPORTANT NOTE: These foundations help establish the conditions for responsible digital development; they do not, on their own, establish that a particular AI function is clinically validated or approved.
1. Information spread across systems
The challenge | Clinicians may need to navigate multiple applications to understand a patient’s history, current status and care plan. |
The Cellma approach | Bringing relevant clinical and operational capabilities into a connected ecosystem can support more accessible information within configured workflows. External records still depend on the interfaces, data-sharing permissions and integrations in place. |
2. Handover and patient-flow coordination
The challenge | Acute care extends beyond A&E. Assessment, SDEC, wards, referrals, bed allocation and discharge all require timely communication. |
The Cellma approach | PAS, bed management, referrals, documentation and discharge-related capabilities can support coordination across the patient journey, subject to the modules and workflows deployed. |
3. Patient access and communication
The challenge | Patients may receive information through different channels, while providers need to manage appointments and communications appropriately. |
The Cellma approach | Patient portal capabilities can provide a provider-facing digital access route. Where NHS App integration is required, the organisation must establish the appropriate NHS integration pathway and meet the applicable technical and service standards. |
4. Preparing for clinical AI
The challenge | AI tools can be difficult to integrate when data formats, interfaces and clinical workflows vary between systems. |
The Cellma approach | A standards-based interoperability strategy can help establish connections between relevant systems and provide a more coherent information environment. Any AI or decision-support function must still undergo its own clinical safety, performance, governance and deployment assessment. |
The future of acute care will not be defined by AI alone. It will depend on whether clinical teams can access relevant information, coordinate patient pathways and use digital tools safely within day-to-day practice.
For AI and clinical decision support system technology to contribute meaningfully, hospitals need reliable data, appropriate interoperability, secure access and clinical oversight. Patient portals and NHS App integration can contribute to the wider digital experience, while connected clinical and operational systems support the work happening behind the scenes.
Cellma brings together clinical and operational capabilities within one ecosystem, helping organisations plan for connected care and assess the digital foundations needed for future AI-enabled pathways.
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AI can help clinicians identify potential risks, interpret relevant patient information and support clinical assessments. Its effectiveness depends on reliable data, interoperable systems, clinical oversight and appropriate safety governance.
Interoperability allows healthcare systems to exchange and use patient information across care settings. It supports better information access, coordinated handovers and the reliable data exchange needed for AI-enabled clinical decision support.
Cellma brings together patient records, clinical documentation, bed management, referrals, discharge workflows and reporting within the Cellma Ecosystem. Its interoperability capabilities can support connections with external systems, helping healthcare organisations establish a connected digital foundation for future AI-enabled care.
