UK NHS Urged To ‘Bottle COVID-19 Spirit’ For Future Health System Change

BY ASHLEY YEO

Executive Summary

Residual resistance to digital health care solutions in the UK NHS disappeared “almost overnight” when COVID-19 compelled the rapid adoption of new tools to meet the surge in demand and cope with supply challenges.

Adoption of digital technology tools by the UK National Health Service was impressively rapid – “almost overnight” – when COVID-19 struck, in the view of Association of British HealthTech Industries digital lead Andrew Davies. What prompted such a change, when nothing comparable in NHS technology adoption, has been seen before? he asked during the association’s webinar on the NHS’s planned care restart, post coronavirus.

This spirit of readiness to embrace positive change is to be welcomed, says industry. “If we can bottle it, we should use it in all aspects of the health and care service moving forward,” said Louise Jopling, of the Academic Health Sciences Networks (AHSNs), the 15-member organization that acts as a bridge between industry and the NHS to facilitate innovation adoption locally and nationally.

The pandemic forced the notion that existing routines and methods would fail to produce the required results for patients. “There had to be a rapid deployment of new platforms, but also a need to support the staff who were suddenly going to be using them as the new norm,” she said. Online training of staff became a role for the AHSNs.

Elsewhere, the networks rapidly amassed some 200 market-ready innovations that could be deployed in COVID-19 control efforts, including those for online triage, remote monitoring, virtual consultations, infection control and diagnostics. Under the pressure of coronavirus, some 99% of UK primary care practices are now using video consultations.

In the secondary care sector, hurdles to restarted activity remain in place, however. Some 500,000 operations have been cancelled in the UK. One third of the membership of the Royal College of Surgeons of England is not yet able to restart planned surgery, and one quarter does not have access to a “COVID-lite” site, said the college’s incoming president Neil Mortensen.

“Technology has made a huge impact,” Mortensen said, with face-to-face consultations down by some 75%. Multi-disciplinary team meetings have also arrived in a big way, which is good for team building and co-working, he said. Meanwhile, supplies of health care products is becoming easier, including for personal protective equipment.

But a considerable problem is emerging in cancer care. Cancer waiting lists remain high in some parts of the UK but while some trusts have long waiting lists, others have been able to rely on the independent sector to share the burden. (Also see “UK Medtech Industry Seeking More Clarity On Restart Of Elective Procedures” - Medtech Insight, 7 Jul, 2020.)

With cancer screening put on hold as a result of the coronavirus, and people with suspected cancer reluctant to visit their doctor, there could be a 20% rise in cancer-deaths within a year, due to COVID-19. That is according to research published on 29 April by DATA-CAN: The Health Data Research Hub for Cancer, hosted by the AHSN, UCLPartners.

At the peak of the pandemic in the UK, the number of cancer referrals were down by almost two thirds. But there is evidence that patient confidence is returning, said Mortensen.