Healthcare in Thoughts from the Centre
Closing the digital gap: Shaping the future of UK healthcare
By Dr Francesca Properzi, PhD. Research Manager, Centre for Health Solutions
Innovation and new technologies are acknowledged as key enablers of the digital transformation of the NHS, however, today, healthcare lags behind most other service industries in the adoption of technologies to improve performance and the service user experience. This week we launched our latest report, ‘Closing the digital gap: Shaping the future of UK healthcare’ which highlights the opportunities and future potential of digital technologies to tackle some of healthcare’s most intractable challenges.1 We acknowledge the numerous policy initiatives aimed at establishing ‘a digital NHS’, however, we also highlight a growing divide between policy ambition and the reality of the experience on the front-line.
Insights that can help NHS organisations come together as Integrated Care Systems
By Catherine Skilton, Partner Deloitte’s Public Sector Healthcare team
As the first half of the year draws to a close, we in the Deloitte healthcare practice have decided to take stock and reflect on some of the key challenges facing NHS organisations as they come together to form Integrated Care Systems (ICSs). We have asked senior colleagues from across the firm to highlight the burning questions they are being asked about most frequently – and more importantly, what advice they provide.
Smoking prevalence in the UK: Moving in the right direction, but more work lies ahead
By Matthew Thaxter, Analyst, Centre for Health Solutions
Each year, the World Health Organization (WHO) holds its ‘World No Tobacco Day’ on May 31. Its goal is to raise awareness on the harmful and deadly effects of tobacco use and second hand smoke exposure, and to discourage the use of tobacco in any form.1 This blog explores some of the latest data on smoking prevalence in the UK, the achievements in reducing the prevalence of smoking and impact that smoking is having on the health of the UK population, the NHS and the wider economy.
Raising awareness of mental health issues
By Elizabeth Hampson, Director, Monitor Deloitte
Last week was Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW), organised by the Mental Health Foundation which, since 2000, has organised its annual campaign around a specific topic. These campaigns have helped raise public awareness of issues such as loneliness, anger, fear and friendship. I have been a passionate advocate for raising awareness of mental health and wellbeing issues for a number of years and wanted to use this opportunity to highlight some of the key initiatives from last week and also explain a little about what Deloitte is doing.
Reflecting on World Asthma Day
By Mark Steedman, PhD, Manager, Centre for Health Solutions
I woke up in late March with a severe cough and could hear myself wheezing with each breath. It was worrying. The London Marathon was just over a month away, and I had spent the previous two months training for it; the next month was going to be critical. I needed to recover quickly to get back to training if I wanted to participate in the race. Similar asthma-like symptoms had been brought on by a cold a few years before, and although I know that I don’t suffer from asthma, I knew from experience it would be an uphill battle to get back to full strength. It also made me more sensitive to those people I know who do have asthma. For the next two weeks I struggled with intermittent coughing, sleepless nights and a general feeling of dread that I wouldn’t recover in time. However, as you learned from last week’s blog, I finished the marathon, but I also learned a lot about asthma and other respiratory diseases along the way. Earlier this week was World Asthma Day, so this week’s blog looks at the impact asthma has on people around the world.
Marathon running for a cause
By Mark Steedman, PhD, Manager, Centre for Health Solutions
Last Sunday, my colleague Matt Thaxter and I took part in the 39th London Marathon. After months of training and fundraising, we both crossed the finish line on The Mall, full of pride – and completely exhausted. With a record number of 42,549 runners crossing the line and over £1 billion raised for charity, I thought this week’s blog would be a good opportunity to reflect on the experience and discuss what drives so many people to push their bodies to the limit for 26.2 miles (42.2 km). Also, since next week is Mental Health Awareness Week, I’m also going to discuss some of the mental health aspects of running a marathon.
FDA workshop on achieving medical device safety and cybersecurity: Why trustworthiness, transparency, and resilience are critical
By Steven Darroch, Senior Manager, and Nick Sikorski, Manager, Deloitte & Touche LLP
This week's blog, by Steven Darroch and Nick Sikorski from the US firm, first appeared on the US Center for Health Solutions blog site. The blog follows on from our report Medtech and the Internet of Medical Things: How connected medical devices are transforming health care and a public workshop held by the FDA, and explores the importance of medical device safety and how to mitigate operational, commercial and regulatory risks.
Launching innovative biopharma in China: Market access, reimbursement and digital health care
By Mark Steedman, PhD, Manager, Centre for Health Solutions
In March, Deloitte colleagues David Xie and Xiaofeng Li published the article Gain the edge in a fast moving market, introducing a series of articles on ‘Launching innovative biopharma in China’. This introductory article was the subject of a previous blog that we published in February.1 This week’s blog explores the findings in the next two articles in the series: A new view on market access and reimbursement, examining innovative alternative reimbursement opportunities in the public and self-pay markets; and A new view on China’s digital health care, evaluating how product launches can target digitally savvy consumers.
Our parents might be ready for virtual visits, but some hospitals aren’t quite there
by Urvi Shah, Senior Manager, Deloitte Consulting LLP
This week’s blog, by Urvi Shah a Senior Manager within the Deloitte US firm, first appeared on the US Center for Health Solutions blog site.1 The blog looks at how health care stakeholders patients, particularly older people are ready for the changes that technology can bring to the way they interact with the health care system, but the system itself may not yet be quite ready for this change.
The transition to integrated care: why population health management is critical to the future sustainability of health and social care
By Karen Taylor, Director, Centre for Health Solutions
The growing demand for health and care, rising patient expectations and increasing costs in the face of substantial budget constraints call for innovative solutions. In the UK, there is a growing consensus that if healthcare is to be sustainable, there is a need for a fundamental shift from treatment of ill health, when it occurs, to prevention. This week we launched our report The transition to integrated care: population health management in England, with findings derived from extensive literature reviews and our experience working with health economies both in the UK and internationally. It highlights key challenges and potential solutions that, if adopted at scale, could deliver a more cost-effective approach to improving the health and wellbeing of a population.