Executive summary
In the NHS, "workflow" is a complex ecosystem spanning clinician knowledge access, operational patient flow, patient engagement, and team communications. The drive for digital transformation is not about technology for its own sake, but about achieving measurable gains: quicker access to life-saving guidelines, reduced "Did Not Attend" (DNA) rates, and smoother, safer patient discharge. This is a core focus of NHS England’s 2024/25 priorities, which emphasise productivity, patient flow, and the adoption of best-value digital tools.
This guide provides a practical map of the innovative platforms that are delivering these gains in NHS trusts and primary care today. We will provide a snapshot of the leaders in each category—Eolas for clinical knowledge, Induction/Zesty and DrDoctor for patient engagement, Patients Know Best (PKB) for personal health records, Nervecentre and Alcidion for operational flow, and Accurx for communications—and explore how they are being adopted to create a more efficient and connected health service.
What counts as a “workflow management platform” in the NHS?
The NHS workflow technology market can be understood across four distinct but interconnected layers:
- Knowledge & protocols: Tools that provide clinicians with rapid, reliable access to national and local guidance at the point of care.
- Patient engagement & portals: Platforms that manage the patient's journey, from appointments and digital letters to proactive communication.
- Operational flow & EPR orchestration: Systems that provide a real-time view of hospital capacity, patient location, and discharge readiness.
- Communications & documentation: Tools that facilitate seamless communication between teams and automate clinical note-taking.
Clinician knowledge & protocol access
Eolas Medical
- What it is: A mobile and web platform that gives clinicians instant access to their organisation's local guidelines, protocols, handbooks, and clinical forms.
- Adoption signal: A Sheffield Teaching Hospitals case study reported significantly faster access to critical care guidelines for junior doctors. A mixed-methods evaluation also described Eolas as a widely used clinical decision support system for surfacing hospital-approved guidance.
Patient engagement & portals (NHS App–aligned)
Induction Healthcare (Zesty patient portal)
- What it is: A comprehensive patient portal for managing appointments, viewing digital letters, and completing forms. It is deeply integrated with the NHS App, with a reported 20+ trusts and millions of patients having access. It integrates with major EPRs like Millennium and System C.
DrDoctor
- What it is: A patient engagement platform focused on validating waiting lists, sending appointment reminders, and using AI to gain insights into and reduce DNAs.
- Adoption results: A Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT) case study showed significant DNA reduction and financial benefits from using the platform.
Patients Know Best (PKB)
- What it is: The UK's leading Personal Health Record (PHR), which is also integrated with the NHS App. It allows patients to hold and manage their own records and use PRSB-aligned care plans, with recent partnerships enabling the flow of point-of-care testing results and data from at-home tests.
Operational flow & EPR-centred orchestration
Nervecentre
- What it is: A modern, mobile-first Electronic Patient Record (EPR) with a strong focus on live operational dashboards for managing patient flow. The platform has won multiple new EPR contracts, and its discharge-flow capabilities have been highlighted in case studies with partners like Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) ICS.
Alcidion (Miya Flow / Miya Precision)
- What it is: A specialised patient-flow management and orchestration platform that often sits alongside a trust's existing EPR. Its electronic journey boards provide a real-time, trust-wide view of bed status and patient movement. A Hywel Dda University Health Board report details their successful configuration of Miya Flow.
Communications & documentation (with emerging AI features)
Accurx
- What it is: The ubiquitous cross-system communications platform, connecting 98% of GP practices with secondary care and other services. It is increasingly being adopted by trusts for patient communication and total triage.
- Innovation: Accurx has launched its AI scribe for NHS use. Powered by Tandem Health, it provides automated note-taking with direct write-back to EMIS and SystmOne, and the company has published extensive guidance on its compliance and safe use.
How these platforms demonstrate innovation adoption
- Faster guideline access improves bedside decisions (Eolas at Sheffield).
- Patient engagement reduces DNAs and validates waiting lists (DrDoctor at GSTT).
- Flow orchestration shortens length of stay and streamlines discharge (Nervecentre at NUH).
- The NHS App as a digital front door amplifies the reach of patient portals (Induction/Zesty).
Buyer’s checklist (for Trusts/ICBs)
- Compliance & assurance: Has the vendor passed the DTAC? Where applicable, do they have the required DCB0129/0160 clinical safety documentation and a completed DSPT?
- Integration: Does the platform support modern interoperability standards like FHIR/HL7? Does it have proven write-back capabilities to your PAS/EPR? Does it link to the NHS App?
- Proofs: Are there published, peer-reviewed case studies or independent evaluations? Can the vendor provide live KPI baselines from comparable trusts?
- Change & training: Is there a clear implementation plan supported by a clinical champion model and robust governance?
- Cost–benefit: Can you quantify the expected ROI in terms of DNA reduction, administrative minutes saved, or bed-day impact?
Where AI fits today
- Engagement AI: Using predictive insights to target interventions that cut DNAs and to deliver proactive patient communications (DrDoctor).
- Documentation AI: Using NHS-compliant scribing tools to reduce the note-taking burden (Accurx Scribe).
- Flow AI: Using risk-stratification to prioritise waiting lists and optimise patient pathways.
Quick comparison table
| Platform | Primary jobs-to-be-done | NHS adoption signal | Key integrations | AI features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eolas | Guideline/handbook access | Sheffield case study | Mobile/web; QR links | Retrieval-based search |
| Induction/Zesty | Patient portal & forms | 20+ trusts; NHS App | Millennium, System C, Rio | — |
| DrDoctor | Patient engagement | GSTT case study | NHS App, SMS, email | DNA reduction AI |
| PKB | Personal Health Record | PRSB case studies | NHS App integration | — |
| Nervecentre | EPR + flow dashboards | New EPR awards (UHL) | Core EPR | — |
| Alcidion | Flow orchestration | UK trust rollouts (Hywel Dda) | Electronic Journey Boards | — |
| Accurx | Comms + documentation | 98% GP practices | EMIS/S1 write-back | AI Scribe |
Practical playbooks
“Stand up a guidelines hub in 30 days”
Conduct a content audit of your existing guidelines, build them into a platform like Eolas, and roll it out to a department with QR codes and an analytics dashboard.
“Cut DNAs by 10–20% in 90 days”
Identify a high-DNA cohort, deploy DrDoctor’s reminder templates, push communications via the NHS App, and track the impact against your baseline.
“Make flow visible”
Implement discharge dashboards with Nervecentre or Alcidion and define clear metrics for length of stay and "stranded" patients to track pre- and post-implementation.
“Comms + AI scribe governance”
Use the Accurx Scribe deployment as a catalyst to implement the official NHSE requirements, including creating a DPIA and training staff on the consent workflow.
FAQs
- Is Eolas an EPR?
- No, it is a knowledge and workflow platform for accessing trust-approved guidance, which sits alongside your core EPR.
- How do portals relate to the NHS App?
- Many patient portals, like Induction/Zesty, can now surface their features via the NHS App, creating a more integrated "digital front door" for patients.
- Can AI really reduce DNAs?
- Patient engagement platforms like DrDoctor have published case studies showing measurable improvements, but you must always validate these claims against your own local baselines.
- What governance is needed for AI scribing?
- You must follow the official NHS England requirements, which include a full clinical safety case, a DPIA, and adherence to the supplier's best-practice guidance (e.g., the Accurx Scribe help pages).