It is no secret that the NHS is going through a seismic shift. The £30bn black hole in its budget combined with an increasingly old and overweight population means the pressure is on to find new, sustainable ways of working. The current set up – one which sees healthcare facilities at the centre and patients as satellites that dip in and out as needed – is about to be turned inside out. A more patient-centric, holistic system is on the cards, one that requires individuals to take much more responsibility for their own health and which will be supported by innovative and disruptive medical technology.
While medical technology improves the productivity and efficiency of healthcare systems, its development does not always come quickly or cheaply. Such technologies can require many years of investment and R&D before products finally hit the market. Even when they do arrive, there can be challenges with take-up – the legacy of previous NHS IT projects combined with the natural cynicism of many healthcare professionals towards whizzy, new technology means that adoption can be slow.
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