Children's Imaging Expert & Academic | Co-founder @Anubix | RCR Roentgen Professor 2025
👩⚕️ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐇𝐒: 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐇𝐒 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 🏥 Today at GIANT Health Event I enjoyed the fireside chat where health policy analyst Roy Lilley interviewed Richard Meddings, the chair of NHS England. Hugely popular session, standing room only! Here are some of the highlights: 🌍 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞, 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞, 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞! 👉The healthcare workforce shortage is not just a UK issue. Nations are competing for talent, making recruitment increasingly difficult. 👉Upskilling allied health professionals (AHPs) and expanding training pathways is vital. 👉While long-term workforce plans are necessary, they’re only one part of the picture. 📱 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 🔸NHS App: This is evolving into a powerful hub, but integration with legacy systems remains a challenge. Progress has been made, with 44,000 healthcare systems moved to the cloud—more work still needed. (https://lnkd.in/eEgUP3ZW) 🔸Federated Data Platforms: Tools like Palantir are providing a “translation layer” to unify data across institutions, ensuring interoperability and analytics potential (https://lnkd.in/eakTYhu5) 🔸NHS Number: This universal identifier could hold the key to connecting health records into insights on economics, habits, and preventative care. 🔸AI in Action: From ophthalmology to breast screening, AI is already helping diagnostics. Ambient documentation pilots (voice-to-text tech) are also underway, promising significant time savings for clinicians. 🏥 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬: 𝐀 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲? 🔸With 95,000 hospital beds operating at 97% capacity, virtual wards are a key strategy for tackling overcrowding. 🔸Over-65s make up 25% of the population but drive 50% of hospital admissions and 74% of bed occupancy. 🔸Proactive virtual care for conditions like UTIs could reduce unnecessary admissions and free up critical capacity. 🚀 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 🔹NHS Priorities: Digital, prevention, and community-based care will be central to the long-term plan (https://lnkd.in/e2XVyXaa) 🔹Exponential Innovation: We’re achieving what seemed impossible five years ago, and the pace of change is accelerating. 🔹Focus on Fewer Initiatives: To drive real breakthroughs, the NHS must concentrate resources on core strategies, avoiding the risks of fragmented funding. 🔮 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 Richard Meddings offered a hopeful outlook for the NHS five years from now. Despite exponential demand and structural pressures, innovation holds the key to transformation. He ends by stating the vision of a health system that is free and accessible remains worth fighting for!
