Sonia Patel, CTO announces Let’s Talk Architecture initiative and to create digital architecture for health and care blueprint

At Digital Health Rewired 2025, HTN’s senior writer, Emily Rodwell attended the digital transformation opening keynote, where chief technology officer for NHS England, Sonia Patel, announced plans for a new initiative around Let’s Talk Architecture and creating a “digital and data blueprint for health and care”.

Taking to LinkedIn to add more context to the Let’s Talk Architecture initiative, Sonia put out a call to action to thought leaders, policymakers, professional bodies, innovators and enthusiasts to “share their insights, experiences, and visions for the future of architecture” within the NHS.

Sonia notes: “Architecture isn’t just about pictures and IT; it’s about enhancing lives and well-being, and its potential to address the biggest healthcare challenges of our times.”

The initiative has been introduced in response to the government’s goal to shift from analogue to digital, aiming to “address the biggest healthcare challenges” and improve patient outcomes through the opportunities presented by “modern technology practices and capabilities,” with a focus on optimising all areas of digital transformation, from “fixing basic computing to the advanced use of AI”.

Healthcare cloud: wider trend

NHS England outlined its NHS cloud strategy, which recognised the need for cloud to support modernisation, enable innovation and provide strong foundations. It explored the current NHS cloud strategy and adoption plan, offering guidance on migration, exit strategies, policies and best practice.

HTN recently caught up with sovereign services lead, Nick Roberts and global customer manager, Jason Jones from Rackspace Technology to discuss the tangible benefits of leveraging cloud technology for the NHS. We also spoke about the wider market and how cloud impacts the healthcare workforce.

Digital Health and Care Wales shared ambitions to deliver a cloud transition programme for national digital services in Wales. The opportunity looked for “one or more suppliers” to support the migration of “circa 90 services” across “approximately 1,600 servers”.

Find out more about the use of cloud in healthcare with HTN and stay up to date with all the latest expert insights with our upcoming events, including our next one on approaches to optimising and adding value to EPRs.