No moonshots here
Helping frontline NHS staff means solving real world problems not chasing moonshots.
In my previous post, I talked about the need for better data to support AMR. Visit our antimicrobials page to hear from the amazing Jackie Swabe of UHS about how they use data to make a real difference. Good luck to the whole team in the antibiotic guardian awards on 26 November 2020.
Living in the world of healthcare innovation, I hear a lot about moonshots. Government, entrepreneurs and media all agree we need health moonshots. AI, robotics and virtual reality are the sexy new technologies that will transport us to a different world.
This is bullshit.
Our health moonshot happened in 1948. Its called the NHS. What we need now is to help the people who deliver world class healthcare for all of us. That means tackling the challenges faced by clinicians every day. The problem caused by the strains of COVID and a legacy of underinvestment in technology.
In short, we need to solve real world problems.
Real world solutions for real world problems
The good news is the building blocks for real world solutions already exist. It doesn’t need to be disruptive. It doesn’t need to be complicated or integrated or restrictive. It doesn’t need to be expensive.
Moonshots are a delusion and a distraction. One example. In the real world, COVID has exposed that we lack basic data. Yet the NHS front line spends millions of hours every year to capture that same basic data. Enduring the friction of slow, out of date systems as they go. How much of that time is wasted?
Recovery from COVID will create new stresses throughout the NHS. Here are some things that can be done today to help:
Design and build IT for users. Deliver an intuitive, simple, engaging user experience.
Health is a communications industry. Communication is based on sharing. Let's make the right data available to clinicians and patients when they need it.
New systems should be a welcome improvement not a disruptive, high risk change.
Technology should be everywhere and evergreen. Always on and always up to date
The NHS and the whole healthcare system should be open to innovation. Not burdened by legacy.
Real world solutions can make a real difference
We can do these things now. Because there are proven, standard technologies and practices that deliver. They are in use in every industry and every country so why not in health?
That means:
Cloud. Not in-house.
APIs and SaaS (software as a service). Not warehouses, lochs and lakes
Modern, open source software tools and methods. Not proprietary and closed.
Intuitive. Use it don't learn it
Install don't implement.
Resilience and flexibility. Not command and control.
Work with Triscribe real world solutions for real world benefits
Cheaper. Easier to manage. Realising the benefits of modern technology. Reducing the risks around information governance, resilience and resources.
Gathering, securing, sharing and using data is a necessary foundation for the future. Even if you believe in moonshots, AI and the rest will not happen without data.
Most important, make life easier for hard pressed frontline NHS staff. Reduce the legacy burden. Make technology into an opportunity for innovation and improvement.
I am fed up hearing from people that are hanging on for the promise of some grandiose project that will never be delivered. Tired of seeing talented clinicians wrestling with spreadsheets and screens.
Triscribe is trying to do things a better way. We are small but we are making progress. We still have a lot to learn. Why not try working with us?