#WIALT (What I Am Listening to) — Digital Health Unplugged (Episode 120)
This documentary-style episode from Digital Health Unplugged stopped me in my tracks - and hit close to home.
I work on digital health services from a clinical perspective. But I also see the full spectrum in my own life.
On one side, parents with the education, digital skills and confidence to navigate the NHS App.
On the other, in-laws where cardiovascular disease changed the household’s trajectory early, formal education ended at secondary school, and the landline and BBC iPlayer represent the full extent of their technology.
My wife is the bridge. Without her, they would simply be excluded.
Editor Tammy Lovell and reporter Jordan Sollof investigate what happens to patients like them as the NHS accelerates towards ‘digital by default’. The government’s 10 Year Health Plan positions the NHS App as the system’s front door - but what happens to those who can’t find the door, let alone open it?
Featuring voices from Age UK, The King’s Fund, the Digital Poverty Alliance, the NHS Race and Health Observatory, The Patients Association, Good Things Foundation and the Social Care Institute for Excellence, this episode makes the invisible visible.
The people most likely to be digitally excluded are often those with the greatest healthcare need. That is not an inconvenient side note. It is the central challenge of the NHS’s digital transformation.
Essential listening.
Listen here
- Spotify: The Forgotten Patients: Is the digital NHS leaving people behind?
- YouTube: Digital Health Unplugged: The Forgotten Patients
- Direct MP3: Listen to Episode 120
Originally shared on LinkedIn; the source gives an approximate month of May 2026.
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