News: King’s Fund report calls for action on technology in the NHS
The respected think-tank the King’s Fund has published a report arguing that the NHS has been slow to take up the new technologies that have transformed other industries.
It calls for action to achieve an “ideal scenario” in which IT is used to make services more convenient, safer and cost effective. Lyn Whitfield reports.
A think-tank has called for action to improve the adoption of new technology in the NHS. A report from the King’s Fund argues that the NHS has been slow to adopt technology that could make services more convenient for users and which is already in use in other industries.
It also says that while Lord Darzi’s Next Stage Review of the NHS emphasised the need to use technology to make more information available to managers, clinicians and patients to drive quality and choice, “much remains to be done” to make sure that this happens.
Technology in the NHS says action is needed at all levels. It argues that the government should draw up a “manifesto” for the use of technology in the NHS that could be monitored by national agencies and strategic health authorities.
“Consumers are used to using technology in their daily lives... yet new technologies, even basic ones, are not embedded in the health service.”
It argues that stronger partnerships should be forged between suppliers and NHS organisations, so the health service gets the technology it needs. And it says steps should be taken to drive consumer demand for technology-enabled services.
Alasdair Liddell, senior associate at the King’s Fund and author of the report, says: “Consumers are used to using technology in their daily lives – 17 million people bank online. Yet new technologies, even basic ones, are not embedded in the health service.
“The NHS must commit to improving the patient experience – this will require an understanding of why useful technology is not being adopted and a determination to overcome those barriers.”
New technology is vital
The King’s Fund report says the NHS should not only adopt new technology because people want it but because it will not be able to cope with demographic change without it.
It constructs an “ideal scenario” in which technology is both used to meet consumer needs and to help health and social services to cope with an ageing population in which more people live with long-term medical conditions.
It then explores the conditions that would need to be met to bring this scenario about and puts together a further series of scenarios in which these are met to a greater or lesser degree.
So, for example, it paints an “age of abundance” picture in which economic growth and high levels of health service funding allow the NHS to take up new technologies; there are good technologies available; staff and patients accept and use them; and it becomes commonplace for health information to be collected and used in real time to support people safely and effectively.
And it contrasts this with other pictures, including the take-up of technology today, which it depicts as “everything in moderation”, and a future in which there is “stagnation”. These, it argues, will be less efficient and effective and will lead to lower levels of staff and patient satisfaction.
Barriers to take-up and how to overcome them
Against this backdrop, the report looks at the factors that might prevent the NHS from reaching the “age of abundance.” These include the health service’s ability to attract funding for investment in technology and to use that investment effectively.
They also include the health service’s engagement with suppliers (such as Microsoft) to encourage them to develop the kind of technology it wants, and the willingness of staff and patients to adopt new ways of thinking and working.
The report argues that users can play a major role in “pushing” industries into adopting new technology, but that for this to happen in the NHS, concerns about IT being difficult to use and insecure will need to be overcome. It says leadership and effective trials that demonstrate the benefits are essential to allaying such concerns.
Technology in the NHS concludes by identifying problems in all these areas. It says a “clear and consistent” message is needed from ministers and the Department of Health to reinforce that investment in technology is a priority.
“The aim should be to develop a critical mass of users sufficient to generate a ‘viral marketing effect’ to drive uptake on a wider basis.”
It says a manifesto for the use of technology in the NHS should be developed and that national bodies such as the new National Innovation Centre and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) should liaise with vendors and provide NHS organisations with advice on what works.
It argues that strategic health authorities, which now have a duty to promote innovation, should unlock money from “silos” and make sure it is spent on joined up, convenient services – including remote consultation, monitoring and care services.
And it argues that trusts, managers and clinicians should actively make the case for new technology and encourage patients to use it. “The aim should be to develop a critical mass of users sufficient to generate a ‘viral marketing effect’ to drive uptake on a wider basis,” the report concludes.