Healthcare Reform

Leave a comment Posted on February 10, 2015February 10, 2015 Healthcare Reform, Patient Talk, Public Health, Social media, Technology

Accident and Emergency crisis – is there an answer? Read our guest post from Zameel Panthakkalakath

Zameel Panthakkalakath

As regular readers know one of the big interested of this blog is the use of social media and communications technology to improve patient care and outcome. So we are delighted to present a guest post by Zameel Panthakkalakath which looks at the uses of smartphones as a way of dealing with the current A&E crisis. What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

With hospitals reportedly at breaking point due to record numbers of emergency admissions, arguments rage about the root cause of the problems. And as the election approaches, chances of anything more than soundbyte analysis are becoming increasingly slim: apparently, with a sufficient dose of money and staff, all will be well.

What’s not well publicised is that in fact, spending on healthcare is continually increasing, and we’re not seeing the problems being solved. Public expenditure on the NHS doubled between 1997 and 2012, in real terms, yet we’re seeing increasingly poor value for money. The current A&E crisis is just one symptom of this. More cash will act as a sticking plaster providing temporary relief, but it won’t heal the underlying ailment – which is that healthcare delivery systems haven’t kept pace with advances in treatment capabilities and changes in demand. This makes for huge amounts of inefficiency and waste within the system, no matter how hard staff are working and how many hours they put in.

The good news is that the problems are fixable. By redesigning services and processes from scratch to reflect current day needs and incorporate new technologies, we can make resources go much, much further.

The A&E situation gives us some clues about where to start. In 2012-2013, 34.4% of patients visiting A& E received guidance/advice only. Before accusing people of going to A&E unnecessarily, it’s important to remember few people set off to spend hours in a hospital waiting room unless they are genuinely worried. What’s needed is a system that gives people practical alternatives. How many of these 6.3 million people could, for example, have been dealt with more quickly and cheaply had they been able to talk to a doctor over the phone or online?

Whilst some symptoms clearly need hands-on investigation, others do not. Computers and smartphones are bringing us a range of new ways to communicate that don’t require doctor and patient to be face-to-face in the same room. Ofcom figures, for example, show us that at the end of March 2013, 51% of UK adults owned a smartphone and that this rose rapidly over the year to reach a figure of 61% by the end of March 2014. Smartphones offer both internet access and the option to take and send high quality photos and video that doctors could be using for diagnosis. A short phone or online consultation could very easily give people the information and reassurance they need at far less cost to the NHS than a visit to A&E would involve.

It’s time to look at radical infrastructure reforms that use resources more effectively and look forward to further advances rather than continuing to patch up old systems. Reorganize the way we deal with non-emergency cases and we’ll achieve two very important goals. One, faster help for those non-emergency patients, and two, safer, high quality care from less pressurized emergency services for those who are in urgent need of hospital care.

Zameel Panthakkalakath is a healthcare entrepreneur and consultant committed to improving the patient experience through innovative healthcare delivery.

Having gained practical experience as a medical doctor earlier in his career, his focus is now on finding ways for healthcare services to improve efficiency and cut waste. He believes smartphone medical photography has a key role to play in this, as one of the many elements in emerging mobile health technologies.

He’s keen to share knowledge and help both patients and doctors make the most of the potential of smartphone photography for improved healthcare.

Connect with Zameel and iPhone Medical Photography:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Google+

Leave a comment Posted on February 2, 2015 Healthcare Reform, NHS

‘Hello my name is…’ Have you heard about the campaign yet? #hellomynameis

Hello my name is…

The ‘Hello my name is…’ campaign was created by Dr Kate Granger, who at 29 was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Kate is a young hospital consultant from Yorkshire who works in elderly care. Last summer whilst having treatment, Kate became frustrated with the number of staff who failed to introduce themselves to her. Her campaign, started on social media platform Twitter, has inspired many staff from across the NHS to lend their support to the campaign.

The campaign is simple – it is about reminding staff to go back to basics and introduce themselves to patients and their relatives properly. Kate talks about this as “the first rung on the ladder to providing compassionate care” and sees it as the start of making a vital human connection, helping patients to relax, and building trust. Feedback from patients across the country has shown how vital this is to them, saying that the smallest things make the biggest difference.

John Adler, Chief Executive at Leicester’s Hospitals said: “Backing this campaign was an easy decision. We had already adopted it in small ways across the organisation, but working with the Listening into Action (LiA) team and other NHS Trusts will push this to the forefront of everyone’s minds.”

“We want our patients to remind us if we are busy and forget to introduce ourselves when we first meet them. I know how important the patient experience is to my staff and that they will all give their backing to Dr Granger’s campaign.”

“As well as asking staff to tell their patient’s their names, we are also reminding them to introduce colleagues who are taking over an individual’s care following a shift change. That way, our patients and their families will always know who is looking after them, which in turn will help them to relax and feel safe while in our care”.

Kate said: “ I think the main messages from the campaign about high quality communication and always treating our patients as people with respect and dignity. I really hope my legacy will be exactly that, putting compassionate practice right at the heart of healthcare delivery every single day.”

You can see more about Dr Granger’s campaign at http://hellomynameis.org.uk/home and on Twitter #hellomynameis.

Leave a comment Posted on September 10, 2014September 10, 2014 Healthcare Reform, Patient Talk

Waiting times! Do you have to wait too long to get an appointment to see your family doctor?

How long to you have to wait to see a doctor?

One of the features of getting older is that you develop the feeling that the whole country has gone to the dogs. Also the kinds of music your children listen puts your teeth on edge. But that is a different matter.

Another is the feeling that it takes longer and longer to get an appointment to see your family doctor. (Or GP or Primary care physician). Indeed according to the UK’s Daily Mail one can often wait two to there weeks for an appointment. But according to official guidelines we should be aiming at a 2 day wait.

So something seems to be going wrong. But what and where?

To help answer this question we would love your help.

Firstly it would be super if you could participate in the poll below which asks if you feel that these days you are waiting too long for a doctors appointment.

Secondly it would be great if you could use the comment box to share some of the reasons behind your answer and also how you think the situation could be improved.

Many thanks in advance.

Leave a comment Posted on August 27, 2014August 27, 2014 Healthcare Reform, Patient Talk

Would you be happy to get medical advice from a Physician associate as opposed to a fully trained Doctor?

In an idle moment this morning I found myself skimming through the BBC News’s website’s section on health. The BBC it seems have closed down is more generic health section. Does anyone know why?

Anyhow my beady eyes spotted the following article entitled “NHS plans rapid expansion of ‘doctor’s assistant’ jobs”. Now my first reaction was – “How many job titles does a healthcare system need?” as ‘doctor’s assistant’ is a new one for me.

In fact it turns out that the name ‘doctor’s assistant’ may come as a surprise to the NHS as well because they call it on their website “Physician associate”. They also mention it was previously called physician assistants.

Now in that context I have heard of them but don’t live in an area where they operate so have never spotted one in the flesh. According to the NHS Career’s website “Physician associates support doctors in the diagnosis and management of patients. They are trained to perform a number of roles including:

taking medical histories
performing examinations
diagnosing illnesses
analysing test results
developing management plans.
They work under the direct supervision of a doctor.”

Furthermore they are normally science graduates and them undergo two years training.

My initial thought was that this job function may well prove to be a “good thing” given the long waiting times to actually see a doctor. But on further reflection it occurred to me that the job could be seem as have trained doctors on the cheap.

As I say I’m in two minds so I thought I would through the discussion over to our readers. My question is simple (perhaps too simple). Would you be happy to get medical advice from a Physician associate as opposed to a fully trained Doctor?

I’ve set up up a poll below for you to share you view. But please do feel free to add any thing else to the comments section below on the subject of this any any other healthcare reform!