TECHNOLOGY
Government announces plans to expand digital technology use across the NHS
New plans to fast track digital excellence and improve the digital skills of the NHS workforce have been announced by Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, as part of plans to expand the use of digital technology across the NHS. Responding to a review of NHS technology conducted by renowned US clinician Bob Wachter, Jeremy Hunt will establish 12 new global exemplars to pioneer best practice and a new academy dedicated to training NHS staff in digital skills.
As global exemplars, the 12 successful NHS organisations will receive up to £10 million and be expected to deliver pioneering approaches to digital services and help others in the NHS to learn from their experience. These Trusts will be partnered with an international organisation of their choice, to take full advantage of their expertise.
Alongside investment in technology and infrastructure, the funding will be used to improve training for staff and will also encourage a new generation of chief clinical information officers to drive
The clinical engineering service in large hospitals should be where the experts who can fulfil this role are found. Duality of provision means that some hospitals will choose to outsource technology provision to private contractors, and while there are many technology companies who can provide a wide array of technology based services, hospitals need to have in-house expertise to guide and act as internal ‘intelligent customers’. Technology management is no longer (if it ever was) a case of fixing broken items and conducting regular safety tests. Clinical engineers have the knowledge base and skill set to help hospitals make the best use of resources by specifying and planning for technology that can transform healthcare. Technology development is not a fad that is going to go away; the landscape has changed, and hospitals need to recognise and develop clinical engineers who can help them make the best use of the huge investment in technology that is required.
Artificial Intelligence
Going one step further, after acquisition of diagnostic information from the patient, this data can be processed by algorithms in so-called Artificial Intelligence (AI) software to provide both verification of clinical interpretation, but now also to recommend courses of action. In cases where rapid treatment is vital to outcomes but access to experienced experts is not always immediately available, e.g. stroke patients, there are now AI systems that will recommend a course of action to more
forward advances in digital technology. Meanwhile, universities will be invited to host the new NHS digital academy, which will help train NHS professionals in the key skills they will need to deliver next generation, digital healthcare. Jeremy Hunt said: “Bob Wachter’s review made it clear that digitisation is as much about people as it is technology, and that this is a real opportunity to improve patient care for the long term. We want to fast track existing digital excellence, as well as nurture new skills and expertise that we will need to deliver a new breed of digitised services. “This means on the one hand giving pioneering NHS organisations the financial backing to unleash their full potential, while also making sure that we can build a digitally-confident workforce across the whole NHS.” The global exemplar Trusts will be: l City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust
l Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust.
junior staff on how to take prompt action. In a world of limited resources, the use of AI systems can provide diagnostic support that helps to facilitate prompt decisions when scarce medical staff are not available or are with other patients that really need them.
Fundamental questions of patient safety
Healthcare organisations face fundamental questions of patient safety, budgetary limits, and the ever-increasing need for availability of medical technology. Through the application of technology we can apply new ways of working where nurses and doctors can be supported by artificial intelligence to do their work thus improving patient safety. This is not science fiction, the AI systems are already available, but connectivity and an ageing fleet of medical equipment does not allow this latest technology to be utilised. Enabling the best technology to be utilised in the best way needs to be guided by policy to ensure investment planning delivers productivity and patient care targets. Healthcare technology management and policy is a serious issue recognised by research undertaken worldwide, including research carried out by the World Health Organization.6
There is a lack expertise in
Healthcare Technology Management, and this is pointed out by many different organisations such as; the National Audit Office, the National Patient Safety Agency, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and the World Health Organization. Healthcare technology transformation is
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l Salford Royal Hospitals NHS Trust. l Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
l University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.
l Luton & Dunstable University Hospital NHS Trust.
l West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. l Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. l Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
l Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.
l University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust.
l University Hospitals Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.
Further funding will be available for another 20 Trusts to become national exemplars, receiving an intensive programme of support from the new NHS digital academy, and up to £5 million each, to improve how digital technology is used across their organisation.
an extremely complex area within the healthcare environment covering the procurement, training, maintenance and governance of medical devices (including software systems) – ranging from magnetic resonance imagers (MRI) to a complex AI software tools.
Clinical engineers are needed to enable the organisation to deliver sustainable transformational technology projects.
Bibliography
1. Nuffield Trust. Delivering the benefits of digital healthcare. [Online] 2016. [Cited: March 25, 2016.]
http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/publications/ delivering-benefits-digital-health-care?gclid =CjwKEAjww9O3BRDp1tq0jIP023YSJAB0- j1SMyWlHRFhi4mNj5ODGYkQBkGVPs2PZ_tjbSRZum 1eBRoCzePw_wcB.
2. Broomfield, Matt. Budget 2016: George Osborne cuts £1.1bn from NHS repairs fund. [Online] 2016. [Cited: March 26/3/16, 2016.]
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/bud get-2016-george-osborne-cuts-11bn-from-nhs-
repairs-fund-a6942301.html.
3. HM Government. Personalised Health and Care 2020. London : HM Government, 2014.
4. Carter, Lord. Operational performance and productivity in English HNS Acute Hospitals. London : Department of Health, 2016.
5. Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Managing Medical Devices - Guidance for healthcare and social service organisations. London : MHRA, 2015.
6. Petkova, Hristina. Barriers to innovation in the field of medical devices. Netherlands : World Health Organization, 2010.
OCTOBER 2016 CSJ
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