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The Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC) is the NHS national framework that healthcare organisations use to assess digital health products before adopting them. It covers clinical safety, data protection, technical assurance, interoperability, and usability — and has become the de facto procurement gate for any new NHS digital tool.
The Digital Technology Assessment Criteria was published by NHS England in 2021 to give NHS buyers a single, consistent framework for assessing digital health products. Before DTAC, every trust, CCG, and PCN would build its own assessment process, which was slow, inconsistent, and a major barrier to adoption for smaller suppliers.
DTAC asks suppliers to provide evidence across five core areas: clinical safety (DCB0129 alignment), data protection (UK GDPR, NHS DSPT), technical assurance (cyber security, hosting, supportability), interoperability (FHIR, NHS number, SNOMED), and usability and accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA, end-user usability).
Suppliers complete the DTAC self-assessment in advance, and NHS organisations request it as part of their procurement process. A passing DTAC is increasingly the precondition for any serious conversation with an NHS commissioner. Medflow Dynamics maintains a DTAC pre-assessment that can be shared with prospective buyers on request.
DTAC itself is not a legally binding standard, but the underlying requirements it tests against (DCB0129, UK GDPR, DSPT, NHS Number Standard, etc.) are. In practice DTAC has become the standard procurement gate, so most NHS organisations will not adopt a tool without it.
The supplier completes the DTAC self-assessment and provides supporting evidence. The NHS organisation reviewing the supplier then evaluates the response against its own clinical safety, IG, IT, and procurement requirements.
DTAC's clinical safety section explicitly asks for evidence of DCB0129 compliance. A supplier that has a DCB0129 Clinical Safety Case Report and Hazard Log will be able to satisfy that section of DTAC; one that doesn't, won't.
Medflow Assure is built around the standards on this page. Book a walkthrough to see how it works in practice.
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