Introduction
care meet the highest standards. These regulating organisations place the outcome of their work in the public domain so that there is complete transparency over the quality of care provided by the NHS. The clinical pathway for patients in the NHS has
at its heart the general practitioner (GP) or family doctor. All citizens in the UK have a personal general practitioner who they visit when they have a medical problem, and 95 percent of all medical problems are resolved by a visit to the GP. This doctor can order tests and, if necessary, arrange for a consultation with a specialist in hospital. After the consultation, an admission or any procedures, the patient returns to the care of the GP who can monitor them and offer follow-up care. The GP is at the centre of a primary care team
which includes nurses, pharmacists and social workers etc. This team is able to ensure that, for example, children have all the necessary inoculations, adults are screened for illnesses and given necessary lifestyle advice, and those with long-term conditions and the elderly are managed effectively to prevent medical crisis and admissions to hospital. GPs are also supported by a range of organisations providing direct care to patients, which is delivered outside the hospitals via a number of community healthcare provider organisations. Many countries are interested in developing a similar system for primary care. The Royal College of General Practitioners is actively engaged in many countries in programmes of training examination and accreditation for doctors in this specialty. Some of the community providers are also delivering services internationally. Preventing illness is far preferable than relying
on treatment once a disease is established. Public Health England is a large organisation charged with monitoring the health of the population and bringing in measures to prevent disease. On a daily basis they collect data from every area of the country on common illnesses such as flu and infectious diarrhoea. Public Health England run national screening programmes for common conditions such as cancer. They have particular programmes to prevent illnesses when large numbers of people gathered together, for example at the Olympics. They also offer a rapid response for international crisis such as the current Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
Emergency response A rapid efficient response when an individual person has a crisis is vital. London Ambulance Service ensures that ambulance crew equipped to offer resuscitation, defibrillation and ventilation will arrive in central London within four-and-a-half minutes of the emergency call. Patients with specific problems such as a heart attack, stroke or major trauma are taken to one of the designated centres where there is all the expertise required to achieve the best possible outcome. UK hospitals work within networks. This ensures
that all the expertise required for every type of clinical problem is available in one of the hospitals within the network. Many of the specialist hospitals
global-opportunity.co.uk
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Professor Rory Shaw PROFESSOR RORY SHAW
Professor Shaw has been a medical director in the NHS for over 15 years, latterly at North West London Hospitals Trust, and previously at Royal Berkshire Foundation Trust and Hammersmith Hospitals Trust. He has also held
national roles as non-executive of the NHS Litigation Authority and previously as the first Chairman of the National Patient Safety Agency. He is a consultant respiratory physician.
within the different networks are internationally recognised. Hospitals such as the Royal Marsden, the Christie, the Brompton, Great Ormond Street, Moorfields, as well as the large teaching hospitals - Guys, Kings, Leeds and Birmingham - are all well known. In mental health, the Maudsley and Broadmoor are recognised names and sit within larger Mental Health Trusts. An important aspect of these large well-recognised
organisations is their contribution to both research and development, as well as to postgraduate training. There is an intimate link between the major hospitals and universities. The UK has some of the best universities in the world including Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College, University College London and King’s College etc. This close relationship with the NHS allows rapid
development of scientific advances and an exciting intellectual environment in which to receive training. An example of the benefit of this relationship is the
development in England of a national programme for genomic and personalised medicine. This is based on the British developments in science, starting with the discovery of the structure of DNA by Watson and Crick in Cambridge, and more recently the work on the decoding of the human genome at the Sanger Centre. The understanding of the genetic code and the ability to type the whole genome of individual people offers the opportunity to identify those at high risk of disease and to initiate prevention, as well as to ensure that specific therapies are given to those who are genetically predisposed to benefit, and not to those who will have side effects. The NHS is creating a network of Genomic Medicine Centres to ensure that the benefits of these discoveries are available to over 50 million people. The needs of individuals and populations of
patients are constantly evolving in the face of changing demography, social and lifestyle factors, as well as changes in pathogens and new emerging technologies. Healthcare systems have to be able to respond and change to meet these developments. The NHS is always at the forefront of service development, and is keen to share ideas and partner with other countries who are facing similar challenges.
Further information
www.gov.uk/healthcareuk
Issue 01 | Global Opportunity Healthcare 2015 19
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