20.03.2026
Paperless? Not Without Paper First.
Sitting at my 200-year-old desk, checking a 120-year-old pocket watch, and recapping a century-old fountain pen, while dictating this into my phone and letting AI help shape it into a blog.
The irony isn’t lost on me.
Just before writing this, I spoke to someone who’s spent years focused on the problem, not the solution. And it struck me we’re still doing this far too often!
I started my journey with computing in the 1970s at night school.
On my first evening, I couldn’t find the classroom. But I noticed paper scattered across the floor—ticker tape, though I didn’t know it then. I followed it. It led me straight to the computer room. That moment stuck.
A decade later, working in insurance, I was helping digitise records—replacing paper with systems. That’s when a phrase came to me:
“The path to paperless is paved with paper.”
Another 20 years on, in the NHS, I found myself saying it again and I’ve been saying it ever since.
Here’s the point.
It all starts with people.
Patients are people.
Practitioners are people.
But too often, we focus on systems, products, and technology before we’ve done the groundwork.
The real value lies in the pre-work:
- Designing the right processes
- Defining clear procedures
- Ensuring everything is aligned
Only then can we deliver products that are truly ready to be used at the point of care, ready for the full patient journey.
Technology doesn’t solve problems on its own.
People do.
Processes enable them.
Products support them.
Get that order wrong, and we stay stuck.
Get it right, and transformation actually happens.
That’s the conversation we should be having and it’s long overdue.
I’m having that Conversation next week at Rewired, I’m sitting down with Harry Pettit, a subject matter expert in EDMS in healthcare. I’m going to ask the questions that need answering to help us really drive transformational change within the NHS. Keep an eye open for my next post on the 30th March 2026 for the outcome of that conversation.
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