12.06.18
‘Fear of failure’ and gaps in information sharing could be holding back NHS value
Failures in sharing good practice and innovation is preventing the NHS from improving patient care and making long-term savings, industry leaders have said.
In a new paper shared exclusively with NHE by the NHS Confederation, the group has identified five areas where NHS organisations can place more focus on value-based healthcare and improve innovation to drive the NHS and the wider system in the future.
The areas of improvement include managing risk, making the best use of data, and listening to patient experiences of care.
“Delivering greater value for every NHS pound is an increasingly important agenda for the NHS and wider system,” said the NHS Confederation.
“As pressures and demands grow, so does the need think about how we deliver care in different ways.”
Value-based healthcare involves taking a holistic system approach with a long-term view of areas to focus resources, shown with efforts such as NHS Right Care, but the NHS Confederation has said “relatively little guidance” exists on how to put the practice into action.
The key areas of long-term improvement face a number of challenges such as how to encourage and promote innovation, how to make use of patient data, and how to be certain that patients and public are at the heart of planning health services. Yet the paper takes insight from senior professionals working across the NHS such as commissioners, providers, and clinicians, to find out what can be done to overcome these issues.
Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “Every day the NHS faces complex challenges and pressure to make the most of its precious resources while handling relentless demands, so it is vital it makes value-based decisions that are driven by providing patients with the best possible care.
“This report, driven by senior leaders, makes recommendations which should make everyone in health and care sit up and take notice.”
Phil Schwab, director of government affairs at AbbVie UK, said: “There’s a wealth of great examples of long-term planning and teams working across NHS organisational boundaries to deliver for patients, the challenge comes in spreading this good practice rapidly further than first adopters.
“This roundtable found that managing risk and a fear of failure can sometime be a barrier in NHS to trying new things.”
The paper will be available to the wider public on the NHS Confederation website from the morning of 14 June.
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