Health Dynamics’ Post

Lord Darzi's report is published today. He was commissioned by DHSC to conduct an "immediate and independent" investigation of the NHS. His conclusion is that the NHS is in "serious trouble". There will be a 10 year health plan forthcoming which will focus on the following: * Re-engage staff and re-empower patients. * Lock in the shift of care closer to home by hardwiring financial flows. * Simplify and innovate care delivery for a neighbourhood NHS. * Drive productivity in hospitals. * Tilt towards technology. * Contribute to the nation’s prosperity. * Reform to make the structure deliver.

I've had now the chance to have a glimpse into the summary letter from Lord Darzi to the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care (independent report) and I have a couple of comments to offer, as an "allied" professional (as they like to call us) and as a patient. I would also like to hear from the people who work or have worked within any NHS setting, what they make of this report. https://lnkd.in/eHRTRfkF So, I'm sad to say that what's being reported here doesn't come as a surprise to me at all. The poor condition of at least Primary Care in the NHS is common knowledge to patients, healthcare professionals and anybody who's paid some attention to the state of affairs, to be honest. I would go as far as to say that, probably, the report is somewhat benevolent in some instances with the real situation the NHS finds itself in. Special attention is required for point 13 of this summary letter: "The NHS budget is not being spent where it should be – too great a share is being spent in hospitals, too little in the community, and productivity is too low" "Too many people end up in hospital, because too little is spent in the community. Many people will have experienced congested A&E departments themselves. If you had arrived at a typical A&E on a typical evening in 2009, there would have been just under 40 people ahead of you in the queue. By 2024, that had swelled to more than 100 people. This is because we have underinvested in the community." It then goes to relate the reduction on number of GPs, community nurses and other professionals, however, I will go even further than that, which is something that seems to be unconceivable within the NHS paradox, namely, the need for a true PREVENTION PLAN for the community. Often relegated to Public Health, the real primary care should happen as a way of preventing disease and not what the current Primary Care sector faces: symptom and pharmacology management. Until the shift in the paradox happens, I don't believe the situation will ever improve. For this situation to happen, the education that healthcare professionals receive should also change and that, in my opinion, is a bigger talk yet than the one in hand today. #NHS #reportonNHSperformance #lorddarzi #healthandsocialcare

Darzi Report conclusions: the NHS is in a ‘critical condition’ but can be saved, with increased general practice funding and ‘fundamental strategic shift’ required. 3 priorities: 📌 Technology - increased use of 📌 Community Care - shift from hospital 📌 Prevention (is better than cure) The report argued that ‘care should be delivered in the community’, closer to where people live and work, and that hospitals ‘should be reserved for specialist care’. It said that there must be ‘a shift’ in the distribution of resources towards community-based primary care services. It added: ‘It builds on the fact that general practice is how most people commonly interact with the health service and GPs’ expertise as generalists. ‘Indeed, research by the NHS Confederation has demonstrated that spending in primary and community settings had a superior return on investment when compared with acute hospital services. ‘It therefore makes sense that this should be the fundamental strategic shift that the NHS aspires to make.’ #GeneralPractice #Health 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ehx2nrCZ

'The NHS budget is not being spent where it should be—too great a share is being spent in hospitals, too little in the community, and productivity is too low.' This is one of the key findings of Lord Darzi's Independent Investigation of the National Health Service in England, which was published today. It paints a honest and stark picture of the troubled state of the NHS, yet finds hope through the underlying fundamentals being strong despite overall challenges. Lord Darzi doesn't set out to make recommendations regarding next steps - he highlights the lack of capital funding, the work needed to improve outcomes and reduce inequalities through access to timely care. He also highlights the need to improve uptake of targeted screening programmes and a need to shift care into the community, moving from 'diagnose and treat' to 'predict and prevent'. These are noble ambitions but the challenges are huge, made more difficult by changing demographics, growing demand, growing cost pressures and a widening workforce gap. So what next? The work starts now on developing the 10-year health plan, which should be published early next year. This will require an associated funding plan and we may have more clarity around funding as part of the Budget on October 30th. In the meantime, systems should consider how they can drive productivity and get the most 'bang for their buck' as additional funding may not be readily available in the short term. There is an associated call to action for all healthcare providers, professional bodies and suppliers - now is a time for partnership and collaboration to address the reform needed to develop new ways of working and models of care.....and help save a broken NHS. https://lnkd.in/ehZapjse

NHS Confederation Responds to the CQC State of Care Report In response to the CQC’s latest State of Care report, the NHS Confederation underscores critical issues: staffing shortages, growing service demand, and the ongoing impact of limited funding on care quality across the NHS. The report also highlights the pressure on social care and the need for integrated, long-term solutions to ease the strain on both health and social care sectors. The Confederation is calling for sustainable investment, workforce planning, and policy reforms to support these essential services. What steps are needed to build a resilient, well-supported care system? 👉 Click to read the full article: https://lnkd.in/eGnG-m8z #NHS #SocialCare #WorkforceChallenges #HealthcarePolicy #StateOfCare

Lord Darzi's new report on the state of the NHS... any of this ring true on our side of the pond? "The result is that NHS has implemented the inverse of its stated strategy, with the system producing precisely the result that its current design drives. The problems are systemic. In the current paradigm, patients have a poorer experience, and everybody loses—patients, staff and taxpayers alike. The framework of national standards, financial incentives and earned autonomy as part of a mutually reinforcing approach is no longer as effective as it once was, and needs to be reinvigorated." "A desperate shortage of capital prevents hospitals being productive. And the dire state of social care means 13 per cent of NHS beds are occupied by people waiting for social care support or care in more appropriate settings." "It needs to be stressed that falling productivity doesn’t reduce the workload for staff. Rather, it crushes their enjoyment of work. Instead of putting their time and talents into achieving better outcomes, clinicians’ efforts are wasted on solving process problems, such as ringing around wards desperately trying to find available beds."

NHS Confederation Responds to the CQC State of Care Report In response to the CQC’s latest State of Care report, the NHS Confederation underscores critical issues: staffing shortages, growing service demand, and the ongoing impact of limited funding on care quality across the NHS. The report also highlights the pressure on social care and the need for integrated, long-term solutions to ease the strain on both health and social care sectors. The Confederation is calling for sustainable investment, workforce planning, and policy reforms to support these essential services. What steps are needed to build a resilient, well-supported care system? 👉 Click to read the full article: https://lnkd.in/e7CxpdtE #NHS #SocialCare #WorkforceChallenges #HealthcarePolicy #StateOfCare

A report titled the 'Independent Investigation of the National Health Service in England' was recently released. Unsurprisingly, the NHS was described as being in a "critical condition", with misaligned leadership and structure, ineffective healthcare spending and neglect of the social determinants of health leading to inequitable health outcomes, poor access to healthcare (especially preventative and primary care) and deteriorating trust and confidence in the healthcare system. Worryingly, strong parallels exist between drivers of performance within the NHS and in Australia's healthcare system. For example, the lack of investment in primary and preventative care has led to significant declines in bulk billing in General Practice and access to a General Practitioner, rocketing presentations to Emergency Departments, extended wait times, healthcare worker burnout and poor health outcomes. For years, those in the healthcare professions have been raising awareness and calling for change while 'bandaid' solutions have instead been implemented. ACEM's 'State of Emergency 2022' report is one such example of a call to action, but many of the problems identified continue to worsen. This report into the state of the NHS is another grim reminder that significant action needs to be taken by policy makers in Australia to address the current healthcare crisis. Instead of politically 'flashy' announcements, true solutions will need to be informed by data, best practices in comparable systems, and collaboration with the healthcare professions to safeguard the health of the system and of the nation. Australasian College for Emergency Medicine Victorian Department of Health Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care Independent Investigation of the National Health Service in England: https://lnkd.in/gxfpn6ye

NHS IT systems are in the news today. Often the butt of jokes about NHS infrastructure, today's story highlights the serious consequences when IT doesn't support staff to do their job. In 2022, we surveyed nearly 1,400 healthcare professionals to find out their attitudes to shared decision making. Largely supportive of working with and supporting patients to play an active role in decisions about treatment, respondents to our survey highlighted how poor NHS IT undermined their attempts to work in partnership with patients. Poor IT was second only to not having enough time. You can read the full report here https://lnkd.in/giXEhAsT

First thoughts on Darzi https://lnkd.in/dPBQhfA8 Reads like a testing of the waters before a new NHS Five Year Forward View next Spring (can we really have a 10 year view?). I've never seen the NHS more moribund sadly and in need of some optimism. Seven things we could do with here: 1. Get Public Health back in with the mainstream NHS 2. Have true integrated systems of care, one team local NHS, which means addressing their relationship with NHS FT/Trusts 3. Grasp the nettle on social care, the limits of what the NHS can do and how we fund all of this as taxpayers 4. Community services deserve more urgent attention than even GP primary care and are the broken keystone causing all kinds of problems 5. People within the NHS need to be honest about confronting some of our ways of working; tribalism, exceptionalism, preciousness, role demarcations, entitlement, paternalism and inflexibility - Darzi has this written in subliminal language throughout 6. Change the NHS culture that sees its tribes and organisations chucking snails into each others' gardens 7. Celebrate and invigorate managerial roles through a new professionalism reinforced by competency-based advancement, registration and accredited qualifications #nhs #nhsengland #marketaccess #pharmaceuticalindustry #medtech #diagnostics