While ICSs are still in the early stages of their development, it is important that they are built upon strong digital foundations, helping to ensure they are fit for the future. To see how these new systems are getting on, the Digital Healthcare Council has written this report to assess each ICS’s digital readiness and leadership,… Read More Our new analysis of ICS digital readiness
Earlier today Policy Exchange’s Health and Social Care Unit published a major report, At your service, on General Practice. It’s an excellent critique with many worthwhile proposals for change. Its section on digital transformation is particularly interesting. Definitely worth reading in full, but key standouts for us on digital health include specific proposals to: Shift… Read More At your service
A couple of pieces of interesting research recently show that: Over 50s are less likely to have accessed online consultations in the UK during the first lockdown Older patients prefer digital health tools to in-person consultations Research commissioned by Visiba Care looked at rates of online consultations including video consultations and online consultations such as… Read More Research shows strong but unmet demand for digital healthcare among older people
The latest GP appointment stats covering October have led some observers to fanfare that the level of GP appointments is now at pre-pandemic levels. But that conclusion is only partially true, and more fundamentally, perhaps it also misses the point. It is accurate that the total number of appointments in October was 28.2 million and… Read More GP appointment bounce back masks nationwide variation
Writing in Digital Health News, DHC Director, Graham Kendall, outlines what’s worked, and what needs to change, identifying five key lessons: Focus on integrating solutions Support and empower local users to choose solutions that work for them. Avoid spending money twice – if a local service wants, and is willing to pay for, a more… Read More Lessons from Covid
The latest Digital Health Unplugged podcast explores how to break the Covid-19 backlog. DHC Director, Graham Kendall, joins host Andrea Downey and Tom Whicher, founder of DrDoctor to discuss. During the podcast, Graham highlights the importance of: developing integrated digital solutions that prioritise and enhance the user experience, rather than bulk buying commoditised siloes supporting… Read More Breaking the Covid-19 backlog
The waiting stats published today are jaw dropping. DHC Director, Graham Kendall, reviews the figures and estimates that the true waiting list is now around 6.4 million people. The data, covering the period up to the end of May, show: admissions are down to 18% of last year’s levels (296,000 in May 2019 compared to… Read More The scale of the challenge
DHC Director, Graham Kendall, explores trends in the latest GP appointment data and highlights how experiences vary across the country. As discussed in this article for the HSJ, the official data contain highly suspect figures to say the least. Despite these reservations, especially about online appointment rates, trends relating to total number of appointments are… Read More What’s happening with GP appointments?
Shortly after the explosion on board Apollo 13, Gene Kranz, its steely-nerved flight director, famously said, “Let’s work the problem, people. Let’s not make things worse by guessing.” His approach saved lives. We need the same approach now. Writing in the Health Service Journal, DHC Director, Graham Kendall, draws attention to variations in reported figures of… Read More Let’s not make things worse by guessing
The Prime Minister says he wants to prioritise the NHS, so let’s start by prioritising – and measuring – what matters to patients. With such a strong focus on Brexit, it’s easy to miss that the Conservative’s key domestic pledges at the last election had a notably different emphasis compared to past campaigns. “£33.9 billion… Read More It’s time to measure performance on patients’ priorities