9 April 2021 Delivering an effective cyber security strategy within healthcare Kevin Curran, IEEE senior member and professor of cyber security at Ulster University, discusses the delivery of an effective cyber security strategy within healthcare An effective strategy is vital to long-term protection of healthcare data. Just a few months ago, the UK Government announced a new NHS England app that will enable patients to book appointments directly with their General Practitioners (GPs), as well as repeat prescriptions and view their own personal medical files. Most healthcare organisations have been trying to digitise their services for years in order to reduce the administrative workload and improve overall patient care. The benefits of such a move are plain to see, with the internet of things (IoT) being able to influence several areas including clinical operations, in-patient monitoring, medication management and workflow management.