About this alpha service
Work started in October 2025 to update the existing Digital Capabilities Framework in line with the team’s rapid discovery findings. This focused on current and future users’ needs, and how they have changed since the framework was first introduced to support the shift from paper-based and electronic patient record systems to modern digital EPRs.
The alpha’s working title is ‘Digital Capabilities Framework for Secondary Care EPRs’. This reflects user research findings that ‘Digital Capabilities Framework’ was not well understood - many users felt it covered all digital capabilities needed by NHS organisations, rather than relating to a single application type (EPRs) within secondary care only.
Over time, DCF will align to the emerging NHS One Architecture Model (OAM). The team is starting this process by aiming to make sure DCF outputs are high quality, free of duplication and immediately consumable by OAM.
The alpha prototype will:
- increase the team’s understanding of its target users’ needs (CIOs, heads of national programmes in NHSE, other digital leaders) across secondary care, NHSE and DHSC, focusing specifically on existing and new use cases for interacting with OAM capability content
- co-design and iteratively develop an accessible front-end which enables these users to use relevant OAM capability views to support their planning, procurement, and service transformation decisions
Sprint history
| Sprint | Description | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Sprint 1 | Setting up a WordPress website to allow easy iterative development of content, information architecture, search and download functions | 02/10/2025 |
| Sprint 2 | Importing DCF content | 15/10/2025 |
| Sprint 3 | Framing the problem and moving from planning to delivery | 31/10/2025 |
| Sprint 4 | Alpha kickoff | 14/11/2025 |
| Sprint 5 | Remapping to OAM | 28/11/2025 |
| Sprint 6 | Alpha version 2 - rationalising taxonomies | 19/12/2025 |
| Sprint 7 | Alpha version 3 - aligning to OAM and improving contextual guidance | 27/02/2026 |
| Sprint 8 | Alpha version 4 - iterating search filters and developing derived tools | 13/03/2026 |
| Sprint 9 | Self-assessment vs NHS service standards, derived tools and feedback form | 20/03/2026 |
| Sprint 9 | Documentation and handover to the OAM team | 27/03/2026 |
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