The government has released its plans for the NHS and social care to deliver for patients, this winter and next. Pritesh Mistry, Fellow at The King’s Fund, shares his insights with Health Tech World about the role data and digital technology will have to play…
The UK has a new Prime Minister and a new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Thérèse Coffey. The health and care system is facing pressures across multiple fronts from high A&E demand, to long waiting times for routine care to the stretched workforce.
With this in mind, Coffey set out her ambitions for the system in a new plan titled ‘Our plan for patients’, intended to support the NHS and social care through this immediate winter and beyond.
The plan offers some limited measures to shore up pressures, but there is a sense that the government is tinkering around the edges, without setting out high-impact new initiatives.
Role of data and digital technology
However, as might be expected, data and digital technology have a part to play in the delivery of the new plan, which highlights the immediate priorities for using technology to improve patient choice and access.
First is the role of technology in supporting ambulance services. Remote monitoring is specified as a technology that will be used to help prevent avoidable admissions.
Virtual wards
Although not specifically named it’s likely these will take the form of virtual wards – a combination of monitoring technology in the home with clinical oversight from remote staff.
The aim is to safely support patients with low-risk clinical needs in their home and therefore reduce the chance of needing an ambulance.
For ambulance services themselves technology will be used to pool call handling, maximising the flexibility of staff in different Ambulance Trusts to support each other.
In hospitals, virtual outpatient appointments are singled out as a technology expected to improve access. However, the plan does not mention overcoming digital exclusion issues which should be addressed as currently virtual appointments are not ideal for everyone.
Alongside this increase in virtual outpatients appointments, it is expected that hospitals will continue to modernise their electronic health records and improve the flow of medical information.
This can improve patient safety and data flows but there needs to be a recognition it also takes an investment of staff time to do so, which is in low supply.
GP practices are one of the most digitally enabled parts of the NHS. The ‘Our plan for patients’ document identifies administrative burden as a challenge for GPs and their staff.
Focus on automation
To address this the Secretary of State’s announcement includes a focus on automation. Robotic process automation is a type of software that automatically carries out repetitive simple tasks like sending patients appointment reminders.
It has shown benefits such as releasing staff time, but it’s often not a solution that can just be picked up and used. Instead, it takes staff time to implement these technologies, change workflows and provide monitoring so extra staff capacity will need to be factored in.
It’s good to see the plan does not forget social care, however the role of technology is limited to the digitalisation of social care records.
It’s up for debate on how much impact this can have in the short term, with the expectation being that these digital records will save staff time.
However, as within the health service, staff capacity is needed to learn and implement new systems, which is currently difficult for organisations given the health and care system is facing significant workforce shortages and widespread burnout.
While absent of many of the usual buzz words, Coffey’s plan singles out how technologies are expected to support the NHS and social care in the short term, but it overlooks the trade off that technology can help but the success of implementation relies on staff capacity, which is in short supply.
By Pritesh Mistry, Fellow at The King’s Fund.
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