The ethics of digital innovation in health and care

Digital innovation is heralded as the panacea for modern health and social care – creating more efficient and effective services, enabling patients to take more control of their health, and citizens to manage their transactions with government online. Personalised Health and Care 2020 (November 2015) sets out a framework for digital technologies with a bold ambition:

One of the greatest opportunities of the 21st century is the potential to safely harness the power of the technology revolution, which has transformed our society, to meet the challenges of improving health and providing better, safer, sustainable care for all. To date the health and care system has only begun to exploit the potential of using data and technology at a national or local level. Our ambition is for a health and care system that enables people to make healthier choices, to be more resilient, to deal more effectively with illness and disability when it arises, and to have happier, longer lives in old age; a health and care system where technology can help tackle inequalities and improve access to services for the vulnerable.

But in our rush to embrace digital technologies, are we paying proper attention to the implications for all of us as patients and citizens? What does digitally transformed health and care mean for privacy and surveillance? Who benefits and who might get left behind from the so called ‘digital revolution’ in health and care? How do we elide patient/citizen choice with professional expertise?

This session aims to bring people with an interest in the topic to start a conversation. We hope that it will result a regular meet up of interested people and bridge a dialogue across disciplines and sectors. is aimed at academics, people accessing health and care services, practitioners, digital innovators and anyone else with an interest in this topic.

The session is hosted by Victoria Betton, director of digital health programme mHabitat and PhD student at the School of Media and Communications; Dr Helen Thornham, Associate Professor Digital Cultures at the School of Media and Communications; Dr Ian Kellar, Associate Professor and lead for behaviour change at the School of Psychology; Imran Ali, Founder of Carbon Engineering and Living Lab, with an interest in emerging technologies.