On July 1st, as part of the NHS 60 celebrations, the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement presented the annual conference NHS Live: energising innovation.
Thought provoking talks about the future of the NHS and Lord Darzi’s new enabling report “High Quality Care for All”, were given by NHS chief executive David Nicholson, Lord Darzi, Don Berwick, Bernard Crump and Ann Keen, MP. There was also a large interactive exhibition throughout the day.
Don Berwick, President/CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in the United States, offered a transatlantic view of the NHS at 60. In awe of the NHS, he commented how the UK recognise healthcare as a human right, which he further explained “…is something that my own country does not see.” Crediting the NHS system Berwick notes how it “leaves no one out” and through the tax based system redistributes wealth through both the rich and poor. Berwick continued to make 10 points of advice, for the NHS moving forward:
1. Put the patient at the centre
2. Stop restructuring.
3. Strengthen community care systems.
4. Reinvest in PCT and GP’s.
5. Do not put faith in market sources.
6. Avoid supply driven care like the plague
7. Develop an integrated form of measurement.
8. Heal the divide between government/policy/service improvement AND public servants.
9. Train workforces for the future, not the past.
10. Aim for Health. ‘It’s called the ‘NHS, not the NHCS …live up to your middle name!’
The High Quality Care for All: NHS Next Stage Review final report, discussed at NHS Live is an exciting document full of tools that allow service transformation to be bottom up and patient centered. David Nicholsen aptly noted; ‘We need to talk to communities, not Whitechapel about things that need to change.’