The NHS is a nightmare, says Gillian Bowditch in the Sunday Times. It isn't national (there is no single UK standard for everything). It doesn't appear to be much concerned with health (it is more in the business of "crisis" provision"). And it isn't much like any other service we know ("in a toss up between protocol and what is in a patient's best interests, protocol wins every time").
Bowditch has plenty of anecdotal evidence to support these thoughts (as do I, and, no doubt, you). But the OECD report out last week has added grist to her mill. It tells us that we are short of 25,000 doctors, that our NHS staff "have too little time to care" and that we don't even do the basics particularly well. There are some "really disturbing failings".
Most of us assume that this state of affairs is destined to, at best, carry on as it is, and, at worst, to continue to disintegrate under the weight of its own ineptitude and our overweight/ageing population until it is gobbling the nation's entire tax take, while being so useless at its supposedly core tasks that we are all obliged to go private anyway. That might happen.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
As Bowditch says, change doesn't come easily to the NHS in England or Scotland. "Even simple cost-free ideas that could be quickly and easily implemented meet a level of resistance that would have impressed General de Gaulle." But it really doesn't have to happen. Technology can stop it.
A friend who recently spent a few days in hospital told me about how boring and time consuming all the routine nursing tasks appeared to be. Nursing, he said, seems to be mostly about checking (temperatures, blood pressures, blood sugar levels etc) and counting (pills) both things that could surely be done better by technology.
How hard would it be to create an automatic dispensing system for medication? And how hard would it be to convert the Fitbit on my wrist into a diagnostic wristband sending and storing the vital signs of every patient for consultants to see when they eventually appear on each ward (or even for a computer to analyse in advance of their appearance).
That reminded me of a talk I went to recently (which I mentioned on our podcast) where the speaker pointed out that it would be entirely possible for us all to wear similar devices all the time so that our health data was always available when we needed it (on our smartphones or automatically transmitted to our GPs). That way, when we went to the GP there'd be no time wasted on basic tests and fuzzy questions (how long have you had temperature?): all the information would be there already note that the Apple watch can store 60 types of data already.
Think of the cost saving, the time saving and the human saving: nurses freed of this stuff could think more about the actual care of patients, for example, and diagnosis could be both quicker and more accurate.
Here's a little hint of things to come: Fastcompany.com reported this week on the new Vivi headset for surgeons in the US. It is small simple plastic device that clips on to a headband or pair of glasses and delivers the crucial bits of medical information (breathing, heart rates etc) direct to the doctor via a Bluetooth connection with other equipment. The ideas I discuss above are just an extension of that, both in and out of the hospital.
The first problem with all this, of course, is privacy people don't like the idea of their data being "out there". The second is persuading the NHS to do anything about it.
The first may not be a problem for much longer as Gillian Tett noted in the FT last week, consumers in the US are "increasingly comfortable with the idea of managing their own health in cyberspace". They are also less concerned with privacy than activists like to think: the chief executive of AT&T tells Tett that it is perfectly easy to get people to drop the privacy restrictions on their mobile accounts just by offering to take $20 off their bills.
The second is obviously more of a problem (particularly given that the NHS has history with technological meltdown). But the news isn't all bad.The Cambridge University Hospital Trusts gets it,and there have been various announcements from the NHS about its intention to use wearable technology properly in the future there's a good summary of the possibilities here
This is something to watch: if the NHS can get it right it might be on its way to claiming back the right to use at least one of its initials.
-
Will the Bitcoin price hit $100,000?With Bitcoin prices trading just below $100,000, we explore whether the cryptocurrency can hit the milestone.
-
Inheritance tax receipts jump 11% even before Autumn Budget overhaulOfficial figures show inheritance tax receipts are rising even before the chancellor’s changes to reliefs
-
Beating inflation takes more luck than skill – but are we about to get lucky?Opinion The US Federal Reserve managed to beat inflation in the 1980s. But much of that was down to pure luck. Thankfully, says Merryn Somerset Webb, the Bank of England may be about to get lucky.
-
Rishi Sunak can’t fix all our problems – so why try?Opinion Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement is an attempt to plaster over problems the chancellor can’t fix. So should he even bother trying, asks Merryn Somerset Webb?
-
Young people are becoming a scarce resource – we should value them more highlyOpinion In the last two years adults have been bizarrely unkind to children and young people. That doesn’t bode well for the future, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
-
Ask for a pay rise – everyone else isOpinion As inflation bites and the labour market remains tight, many of the nation's employees are asking for a pay rise. Merryn Somerset Webb explains why you should do that too.
-
Why central banks should stick to controlling inflationOpinion The world’s central bankers are stepping out of their traditional roles and becoming much more political. That’s a mistake, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
-
How St Ives became St Tropez as the recovery drives prices sky highOpinion Merryn Somerset Webb finds herself at the epicentre of Britain’s V-shaped recovery as pent-up demand flows straight into Cornwall’s restaurants and beaches.
-
The real problem of Universal Basic Income (UBI)Merryn's Blog April employment numbers showed 75 per cent fewer people in the US returned to employment compared to expectations. Merryn Somerset-Webb explains how excessive government support is causing a shortage of labour.
-
Why an ageing population is not necessarily the disaster many people think it isOpinion We’ve got used to the idea that an ageing population is a bad thing. But that’s not necessarily true, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
