Speaking to The Guardian, DHC Director Graham Kendall emphasises the importance of a diverse range of suppliers .

“When any system goes down it’s deeply frustrating for all involved, especially patients and clinicians.

“It’s fundamentally important to have reliable fallback measures in place, and that’s one of the many reasons why the Digital Healthcare Council has consistently made the case for a rich ecosystem of suppliers. Having options directly mitigates the impact when things go wrong, and further encourages healthy competition so suppliers can continuously improve their systems, including incorporating user feedback.

“We need to transition away from a centrally dictated single solution as soon as possible for secondary care digital appointments. The first step towards this is to publish volume and performance metrics to inform clinicians so they can choose the best solutions that work for patients.”