United Kingdom National Health System

Review three major innovative developments in NHS health provision from the last five years. Explain the important of these three service innovations for the provision of NHS care in East London and offer an evaluation of their usefulness and success

Introduction

The United Kingdom National Health System (NHS) undergoing serious changes as well as many other Health Care systems among the well-developed countries in the world. It is essential that the most new innovations are aimed to play a good advantage in the health industry. A number of scientists within the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement develop a number of systems that will make National Health System contemporary and using the most recent technologies: “A common factor that successful, ”˜innovative’ organisations share is that they have internal processes specifically designed to support and help the development of innovative products and services. The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement has linked with leading innovation and improvement experts worldwide to develop its own innovative internal work process. Our activities include: NHS Institute Innovation Process, Design Rules for Driving Innovation, Wellbe, Case studies illustrating the use of innovative processes in NHS organisations, Innovators Council, Design Council, Healthcare Innovation Expo” (NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, 2007-2009)

What is NHS in East London

It won’t be a secret that NHS branches are spread within the Britain as well as every health care system. They are involving different foundations. In East London it is East London NHS Foundation Trust. Representing the mental health care branch this institution actively participates within the whole NHS Structure: “East London NHS Foundation Trust is a mental health trust which provides services to the City of London, the London Boroughs of Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Newham. The Trust also provides forensic services to the London Boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge and Waltham Forest, and provides some specialist mental health services to North London, Hertfordshire and Essex. We provide a range of community, outpatient and inpatient services for children and young people, adults and older people. The Trust’s Headquarters are located in Tower Hamlets. We operate from 50 community sites, four main inpatient sites and have 640 inpatient beds. The Trust has an income of £184.8 million and most of this comes from our local Primary Care Trusts. The Trust is linked with the University of London, City University and South Bank University” (East London NHS Foundation Trust, 2009)

Three major innovative developments in NHS health provision during last five years.

Probably one of the most significant achievement in innovating NHS were launching to IT technologies, Internet in particular, providing the most recent information, giving direct instructions for the patients, providing interesting blog writing, that is real break through. Another significant innovation is health screening for those who are over 40s: “Everyone aged 40 to 74 in England will be offered health checks for heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease under new government plans. Ministers believe the assessments will save lives and cut the number of people affected by these conditions” (BBC News, 2008). And the last one will be without any doubts the “World Health Service” as NHS has entered another level of its development and now is strongly supported the idea to be the participant on International level.

Are the innovations efficient or not within NHS and its branches

The debates around these innovation programs are still among the most acute in British medicine of present days. It is essential that there are certain advantages and disadvantages within the further development.

One of the most significant and the most contradictory in or era of computerization is launching to IT, Internet and following computerization. “NHS Choices is the national health service’s online service for the public””the digital wing of the NHS. It is a response to the 21st century challenges of achieving better health and delivering high quality personalised services for all, amid ever-increasing demands on a resource-constrained NHS. As the online service for all communication with citizens on health, it has been designed specifically with the consumer in mind. The information on NHS Choices is all NHS accredited and written in plain English. It is accompanied by videos, user comments and a growing range of interactive tools which allow users to test and monitor their health and well-being.

The information held on NHS Choices is designed so that general practitioners and others can print it off for people who don’t have internet access” (Bradshaw, 2008). It is essential that computerization caused a number of serious problems. One of the most criticized aspects are serious expenses involved and the efficiency is not observed: “Millions of patients are “unlikely” to see any “significant clinical benefits” from the National Health Service’s £12.4 billion national computer system by the time all of the money has been spent in 2014, MPs warn today. The Commons public accounts committee found that pilot projects on the National Programme for IT were already two years late and there were fears that the project would cost £20 billion – more than three times the original contract cost” (Hope, 2007). It is essential that tax payers want to know where their costs are spend.  As it seen from the Daily Telegraph article by Christopher Hope (2007) the computerization is taking too much time and huge expenses, which are not considered to be warrantable. Still inventing IT in the medicine area is very good idea as it really helps to decrease death rate, make reliable and direct diagnosis, and provide difficult operations on the very high level.

Internet helps doctors and patients to get in touch as it quickly spread information and let the users to learn more about NHS as whole institution as well as about it regional departments and many other useful information about institutions and their work with masses. Blog writing helps to involve Internet users in the process and share their opinions according to the certain service, innovations provided and makes NHS usability higher.

Another invention connected with health screening for after forties people is perfect invention to make NHS more individual and personalized. It will provide individual treatment for aged people and further promotion of such a program will provide increasing of quality: “The NHS is becoming more personal and responsive to individual needs – becoming as good at prevention and keeping people healthy as it is at providing care and cures. But campaigners have warned if the scheme was going to be successful it would have to be properly funded. The government estimates it could cost £250m a year to fund and promised money had been set aside” (BBC News, 2008). According to the report of BBC News we see that this innovation should be properly financed to be successful and this also could cause negative reaction and still come scientist find the program efficient and perfectly suitable for current situation in Great Britain.

The innovative idea about world Health program caused rather negative reaction within the masses, still it will help the residents from other countries use British Health Care system and evaluate it advantages: “A survey has found that NHS managers are failing to ensure patients are asked to prove their eligibility and are chasing only around half of the debts owed. The findings suggest that taxpayers are picking up hospital bills for foreign patients that come to more than £30 million a year. Some of the £62 million is paid back by the patients. Ministers have repeatedly refused to answer questions on how much health tourism costs the NHS, claiming that statistics are not collected on the number of patients treated who are not entitled to free care.” (Elliott, 2007). It will be essential to note that still participating on the international level makes British Health Care system more popular and provides a number of positive elements such as promotion and popularization. This question needs qualified re-working, but participating on international level should not be lost.

How important are these three service innovations for the provision of NHS care in East London.

These three innovative programs play a significant role within the NHS system as it is closely connected with computerization aspect.  In East London NHS has personal web site to spread the information within the inhabitants of local area. They could also get in touch with special programs participating in volunteering and assisting the medical establishment in the area of East End (East London NHS Foundation Trust, 2009).

Participating in all the NHS programs East London NHS Foundation Trust is also involved in the health screening for under forties. It is very important national program as ageing of the nation is observed for the recent years not only in Britain but around Europe, so keeping health and well aware about all problems of every individual’s organism is very important in present day world. It is essential that aged people need more thorough health care and East London NHS Foundation Trust will be able to provide it, being closer to the patients.

And the last factor is important for the whole NHS system itself as well as for East London NHS Foundation Trust as its part as it will help to promote British medicine through the masses and help to raise the level. It is very significant question but still needs re-managing.

Conclusion

It is essential that all innovation need some time for assimilation and some of them seem to be unsuccessful for the first glance. I think that problems with British innovations within NHS and in East London NHS Foundation Trust will be solved by managing these questions and re-working them to become more efficient and productive.



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