After techUK announces their 10 point plan to enhance healthcare in the UK, Quadrant Health analyses the recommendations and how they aim to improve healthtech.
Some of the goals of techUK are targeted directly at the central government and others are directed towards the NHS.
For the NHS, the main focus is to communicate the value of digital while also ensuring that stakeholders in board rooms are more digitally mature.
From digital dinosaur to tech-savvy boardrooms
techUK’s report explained that stakeholders should leverage industry partnerships in the digital upskilling of staff. With a focus on continuing to improve boards’ understanding and confidence of digital, they should design clear career pathways for informatics staff to achieve a diverse and inclusive workforce.
By communicating the value of digital, the NHS could leverage the channels in which the public access information about health and care.
The government must play their part
Also looking into central Government, the report focuses on the roles they can play in the project. techUK calls on the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to implement Integrated Care Systems into law in hopes to simplify and codify the provider landscape, making for easier engagement.
Additionally, the DHSC should also implement a commission to audit the 10 point plan. This will allow for a faster integration across the NHS, and allow for a roadmap of national enactment.
Looking more widely, the public will have more access to their own data. Subsequently, this will allow for people to be more integrated with their healthtech as well as the staff who will be more digitally mature.
One final way in which techUK expects the process to speed up would be to streamline the procurement of the technology.
The health of the population is the highest priority and this document offers an essential roadmap for working in partnership with the system
The tenth point explained, as part of a comprehensive plan to reform procurement, the health and care sector should pivot towards outcomes as the primary success factor for digital transformation.
Julian David, chief executive officer, techUK explained: “The health of the population is the highest priority and this document offers an essential roadmap for working in partnership with the system to improve the delivery of care across the board.”