With Integrated Care Boards (ICB) having moved onto statutory footing, it is time to use digital connectivity to join up services – starting with emergency care, argues Mike Farrar, former chief executive of the NHS Confederation and North-West England Strategic Health Authorities.
The NHS is facing huge challenges in the post-COVID lockdown period, with emergency services and primary care under the greatest pressure. NHS England funding needs to grow by 4.3% each year to maintain existing standards. This means we need to get better at treating more patients with the same resources
Technology offers a great opportunity for the NHS to find better ways to provide services, especially in an emergency. By reducing the number of patients in urgent care, the NHS can allocate more beds to clear the elective care backlog.
The NHS is already adopting digital technologies for emergency care, such as smart ambulances, and patients are being discharged from hospital with remote support – for example, ‘virtual wards’ with remote monitoring using apps, wearables, and medical devices (including pulse oximeters for COVID-19 discharge). However, these technologies are being adopted in a piecemeal fashion. To meet the challenges of the future, technology needs to be joined up in a holistic way
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