Solution Assurance

Solution Assurance is a technical assurance function within NHS Digital. We provide expertise to enable national programmes and health and social care organisations to develop effective systems, information and technology. Our work contributes to safer treatment and better care within health and social care services in England.

Assurance is the process by which we ensure that healthcare IT systems meet their functional requirements and integrate effectively with other systems and services. Essentially, we make sure it does what it's supposed to do, when we need it, and that any associated risks are mitigated appropriately. We focus on understanding and improving the quality of service provided by a solution and this is achieved by targeting very specific technical, operational or safety risks.

By solution we mean the overall end product or service, which can involve looking at software, hardware or a number of additional factors including how humans interact with the solutions.

NHS Digital provides assurance to NHS programmes and delivery partners using a risk-based assurance and quality maturity framework. We develop a risk profile based on the delivery partner’s development and quality management approach - this helps determine how much assurance support is required, and where.

NHS Digital's assurance teams collaborate closely and flexibly with subject matter experts within health and social care organisations, and your partners, to design and execute assurance. Together we build, use and maintain automated tools and frameworks that evolve with the product.

Our knowledge has expanded to match the changing nature of healthcare IT. We are proud to support healthcare providers embracing new technology and approaches, in areas such as:

• artificial intelligence
• data driven solutions
• cloud computing