I care about tech because I care about people
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock spoke at the Royal Society of Medicine following the publication of the Topol Review.
This place has always looked to the future. Charles Darwin, Edward Jenner, Alexander Fleming: all fellows of this great institution, all coming together to 바카라 사이트渟hare knowledge바카라 사이트� to 바카라 사이트渂enefit society바카라 사이트�.
I바카라 사이트檇 like to thank another great fellow 바카라 사이트� Dr Eric Topol 바카라 사이트� for the amazing work he, and his team, have done to benefit the NHS.
They바카라 사이트檝e looked to the future. They바카라 사이트檝e looked at genomics, digital medicines, AI and robotics. They바카라 사이트檝e looked at the potential of new technology to save lives and improve the nation바카라 사이트檚 health and wellbeing.
And they바카라 사이트檝e looked at how tech can help staff, make their lives easier, and what we need to do to help our NHS workforce prepare for a digital future.
The is a forensically thorough analysis of what we need to do and how we should do it. But I바카라 사이트檇 like to take a moment to focus on the why.
Why do I care about getting the right tech in the NHS? Why should we all care about getting the right tech in the NHS?
It바카라 사이트檚 not about having the latest gizmos. It바카라 사이트檚 because the right technology saves lives. Every major technological leap, from penicillin, to vaccination, to MRI, has meant more lives saved.
I바카라 사이트檓 confident that our children and grandchildren will look back at genomics, AI and robotics in the same way. They바카라 사이트檒l be the ones asking us why, if we fail to seize this opportunity.
As Dr Topol says, we바카라 사이트檙e 10 years behind in some fields. If we just made better use of today바카라 사이트檚 tech, we could save more people.
So I care about tech because I care about people. I care about our NHS staff and our NHS patients. And I care about getting this right. Because I know the consequences when we don바카라 사이트檛.
There바카라 사이트檚 something that Dr Umesh Prabhu said that has stayed with me. It바카라 사이트檚 the reason why he devoted his career to becoming an NHS medical director and an expert in patient safety.
When he was a consultant, he made a mistake. There were 2 babies with the same name on his ward. His junior doctor picked up the wrong case notes and when Dr Prabhu was brought the wrong x-ray, he discharged the wrong baby.
Two days later that baby boy was admitted to another hospital with severe brain damage. The baby바카라 사이트檚 step-father had stamped on his skull. X-rays showed the baby had multiple rib fractures, some of which were old.
As you can imagine, Dr Prabhu was devastated. Here was a man who cared deeply about his patients, who had made helping people his life바카라 사이트檚 mission.
That tragedy had a profound effect on him. He vowed to change the system, to put in place safety protocols and ways of working that would mean a simple mix-up couldn바카라 사이트檛 lead to such devastating consequences again.
Thankfully, thanks to his efforts, much has changed in the NHS since that happened. But it hasn바카라 사이트檛 changed enough.
Dr Prabhu says human beings make 5 to 7 mistakes every day. Everybody makes mistakes. Doctors and nurses will make mistakes, despite their best efforts and intentions.
That바카라 사이트檚 why, for me, getting the right tech 바카라 사이트� tech that works, tech that helps our medical staff, that makes their lives easier, that reduces the chance of human error leading to human tragedy 바카라 사이트� is so important.
I care passionately about giving our medical staff the right tools to do their jobs. I understand their frustration at systems that make their jobs more difficult. I get how a tough day becomes even tougher because something won바카라 사이트檛 work like it바카라 사이트檚 supposed to.
Digital tech has the potential to transform our health service in the future, but the right tech, right now, will improve lives, and save lives. So the work must begin now.
We바카라 사이트檙e going to have a chief information officer or a chief clinical information officer on the board of every local NHS organisation within the next 3 years.
Getting the right leadership, people who understand tech, who have tech skills themselves, involved in management decisions is vital to getting the right mindset in place. It바카라 사이트檚 the first step to training up staff, building up digital capability in hospitals and GP surgeries.
So I바카라 사이트檓 delighted to launch the Topol programme for digital healthcare fellowships. This programme will give clinicians the skills to make a practical difference to their local NHS organisations and start them on a career path to become CCIOs and CIOs. That way, those leaders can help train and prepare our workforce for a digital future.
And here I바카라 사이트檇 like to quote from the report: 바카라 사이트淭here is a need to raise awareness of genomics and digital literacy among the health and social care workforce. This requires development of the skills, attitudes and behaviours that individuals require to become digitally competent and confident.바카라 사이트�
So, the Prime Minister and I have asked Baroness Dido Harding to take forward a 바카라 사이트榳orkplace implementation plan바카라 사이트�. She will build on the recommendations in the Topol Review:
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all healthcare professionals should receive core training in genomic literacy to help them understand the basis, benefits and ethical considerations involved
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we need to create a career pathway from undergraduate to specialist, a digitally enabled health system with a culture of continuous learning, and we need to support the educators, and the development of the whole workforce
Of course, we want the NHS to be world leaders in digital healthcare, so we need to attract the brightest and the best into our health service, we need to increase the number of clinicians, scientists, technologists and specialists.
But if we want to see transformative change in the NHS, then we need to embed digital skills into every level, and every part of it.
We must invest in training up the existing workforce. Staff must have the opportunity to learn about digital technologies and develop the necessary skills. They must have ongoing training.
The government is putting a record 拢20.5 billion a year into the NHS 바카라 사이트� the longest and largest cash settlement in its history.
It바카라 사이트檚 a once-in-a-generation opportunity. To seize that opportunity and build a better, more sustainable health service for the future, we must ensure our NHS workforce have the right tech and the right tech skills.
Because, thirdly, and finally, I바카라 사이트檇 like to bring it back to why 바카라 사이트� why we바카라 사이트檙e here today.
That바카라 사이트檚 not a metaphysical question 바카라 사이트� I바카라 사이트檓 afraid I can바카라 사이트檛 answer that one for you 바카라 사이트� but why I바카라 사이트檓 here today is because I want us to harness the power of digital technology, to shape it as a force for good, because I want to help the NHS cut costs and save lives.
When we talk about the importance of data management and inter-operability, most of the public won바카라 사이트檛 know what we mean.
This is what I mean: right now, Tesco has more sophisticated and more efficient systems than the NHS. They know who you are through loyalty cards, where you shop through store IDs, and what you buy through the items scanned at the checkout.
That wealth of information means they can run their operations with just-in-time deliveries and market their goods to shoppers with personalised discount vouchers.
In the NHS, we don바카라 사이트檛 have anything like that. We don바카라 사이트檛 use common identifiers to identify patients, we don바카라 사이트檛 know which hospitals a patient has been to, we don바카라 사이트檛 know which medicines have been put into them. We don바카라 사이트檛 even know what we already know!
Of course, there are security and privacy concerns over sensitive medical data and that data has to be managed carefully and with consent. But the NHS is missing out on valuable information. Information that could make NHS services more efficient and safer.
A world in which a hospital can바카라 사이트檛 pull up a patient바카라 사이트檚 GP record to see the reason for stopping and starting medications is downright dangerous. True inter-operability means having the right systems and the right standards.
We have learned the lessons of the past. We don바카라 사이트檛 need the same system across the NHS, but we need the same standards so machines can talk to each other and data can be exchanged.
Six acute NHS trusts have taken up 바카라 사이트楽can for Safety바카라 사이트�, a standard methodology using standardised naming conventions and proven technology to identify and monitor patients, and track products and places.
I want to see this taken up by the entire acute sector. As the review says, we can have the most advanced tech, but we won바카라 사이트檛 see the benefits unless we have real inter-operability. So staff have to make scanning a routine part of their working day.
It takes seconds, but saves hours. If adopted across the NHS, the time saved would equate to almost 400 extra nurses.
As Dr Topol says in the report: 바카라 사이트淲herever possible, the adoption of new technologies should enable staff to gain more time to care, promoting deeper interaction with patients바카라 사이트�.
Because, ultimately, this is about people. It바카라 사이트檚 about doctors like Dr Prabhu. It바카라 사이트檚 about babies like that little boy.
For tech to succeed, for tech to fulfil its potential and deliver on its promise, then human beings are absolutely critical to making it happen. We need a culture change as much as we need a technological change.
So, let바카라 사이트檚 work together towards a digital future that works for people, that puts people first, that helps the NHS do the job it is there to do, ensures the NHS is always there, for all of us, for generations to come.