1.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2021 1.2 The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHSX fully recognise the importance of having a clear digital strategy and implementation plan in place to deliver the ambitions set out in the NHS Long Term Plan, empower patients, give clinicians tools to deliver better care, and improve efficiency. The COVID-19 response has shown what the NHS is capable of when it pulls together to deliver on a clear priority. This experience has accelerated the pace of digital transformation and enabled the NHS to benefit from the rapid adoption of digital technologies at scale. 1.3 The pandemic highlighted areas for further work to realise the full benefits of digitisation, including the need for stronger national digital infrastructure, improved interoperability and better data to drive effective decision making. This has further underlined the importance of having a clear national digital strategy and implementation plans in place. 1.4 The vision for the digital transformation of the NHS was set out in the ‘What Good Looks Like’ framework in February 2020, which NHSX published for consultation. Since then, the response to COVID-19 has meant that many of our efforts have been focused on supporting the frontline with its urgent digital needs. This has delayed the publication of the full digital strategy and implementation plans, but the core building blocks for the strategy remain. The department and NHSX are accelerating the completion of this strategy and are planning to publish it in Spring 2021. 1.5 The strategy will cover the entire health and social care system, setting out a clear plan to digitise and connect the NHS and social care, and ensure the right skills, capacity and capabilities are in place to drive and embed transformation. It will provide the framework and direction needed by local systems to confidently plan their investments and align with national programmes. The strategy will also outline the significant investment needed to achieve the required level of digital maturity and will outline our approach to ensure value for money, including through more effective procurement, strengthened national spend control, more efficient deployment of national products and greater use of open standards.