Future proofing health and care will require investment in both staff and technology
12 February 2019
- Dr Eric Topol publishes the final report of The Topol Review – Preparing the healthcare workforce to deliver the digital future.
- It recommends that patients need to be included as partners and informed about health technologies.
- It argues that the healthcare workforce needs expertise and guidance to evaluate new technologies, using processes grounded in real-world evidence.
- It suggests that wherever possible the adoption of new technologies should enable staff to gain more time to care, promoting deeper interaction with patients.
The director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, Miriam Deakin said:
“We welcome this report and are pleased that it recognises the role of technology in enhancing and augmenting clinical roles, including through reducing admin and speeding up diagnosis and treatment.
“The report recognises the need to future proof the health service and plan for the future. It is one part of a wider strategy to up-skill the workforce and now needs to be utilised to develop tangible and deliverable programmes to improve the use of technology in healthcare.
There needs to be a clear strategy on how technology will be made universally available to healthcare providers as part of the new capital allocation regime.
“However, this will require investment in both staff and technology. In recent years cuts to non ring-fenced health spending have included training and education budgets. It is essential these cuts are reversed in the 2019 Comprehensive Spending Review. There also needs to be a clear strategy on how technology will be made universally available to healthcare providers as part of the new capital allocation regime.
“The report sets out an ambitious vision for sequencing millions of genomes, supported by a clinical workforce that is educated and competent in digital healthcare, genomics and predictive analytics. This is going to require a clear delivery plan that builds on the progress that has already been made by NHS trusts.”