Healthwatch is asking the UK public to have its say regarding what they want from GPs, hospitals and other care organisations in the near future
70 years after the creation of the NHS, Healthwatch is turning its attention to the future and asking the public what they want health and care in England to look like.
Every year, the Healthwatch network engages with around half a million people, helping them to find services and understand their experiences of care.
From this wealth of insight and feedback it is very clear that things are already changing rapidly in how health and social care services help us to live our lives. Firstly, people’s health and care needs are very different to previous generations and, as such, their relationships with health professionals are also changing.
Along with this, technology is revolutionising the types of treatment now available.
Using these three themes, Healthwatch is launching a national conversation to find out more about what people want and expect from hospitals, GPs and care services in the coming decades.
To kick things off, Healthwatch polled 2,000 people to find out more about what impact people think technology will have on the way the NHS operates in 20 to 30 years time.
It asked people to rank a series of statements, where 5 is very likely and 0 is very unlikely. Taking a score of 3-5 as net likely and 0-2 as net unlikely, we found that:
- Almost 4 in 5 people (78% net likely) expect that technology monitoring people’s lifestyles will be common place and will be used to inform treatment options, with a fifth (20%) stating that they think it is very likely
- Two thirds (67% net likely) think it is likely to some extent that Artificial Intelligence will be used to diagnose conditions. Only 3% of people thought it was very unlikely
- Some people were more skeptical about the pace of change, with 1 in 10 (12% net unlikely) stating that they think the NHS will still be using fax in three decades’ time
Yet just because people think technology will be widely used, this doesn’t necessarily mean they are yet comfortable with the idea. For example, two thirds (70% net likely) think the use of robots in surgery will be commonplace but when given a simple choice:
- Two thirds (66%) said they would rather be treated by a human doctor who is more likely to make a mistake but offers compassion.
- 1 in 3 people (34%) said they would rather be treated by a robot doctor that rarely makes a mistake but lacks compassion.
The over 65s were the least likely to choose the robot doctor (with 72% choosing the human). Respondents in the DE social grade (73%) are also significantly more likely to prefer to be treated by a human doctor than those in the AB (61%), C1 (67%) and C2 (65%) social grades.
People are also uncertain about technology being the route to making huge efficiency savings in the NHS. Healthwatch asked people to rank 1 to 10 in order of importance a range of ways health and care services can ensure they meet future demand. Respondents ranked the increased use of technology to help people self-manage conditions at 9th on the list; this was significantly lower than things like a greater focus on prevention (4th) and improved screening for early warning signs of disease (2nd). Full list included in the notes to editors.
So, while there is a clear expectation that technology will change the way things work, there needs to be much greater engagement with people about how and why.
This will be vital when the health sector and patients come to try and solve some of the big ethical dilemmas created by things like personalised medicine, wearable technology and artificial intelligence.
With these changes happening fast, Healthwatch is calling on people to share their thoughts to help shape the debate. People can get in touch via www.healthwatch.co.uk/nhs-100 or on social media using #NHS100
Neil Tester, deputy director of Healthwatch England, said:
“It was great to be able to mark all the fantastic work of the NHS with 70th birthday celebrations in the Summer. But with a 10-year plan being drawn up for the health service, and government plans for social care being developed, now is the time to be thinking about the future not the past.
“At Healthwatch we want to give people a chance to have their say in setting the long-term goals for the country’s hospitals, GPs and care homes. It is our NHS after all, and we need to have these sorts of conversations to establish what we want it to focus on, how it should operate and what role each of us has to play in managing our own health.
“An optimistic future would see new technology delivering early diagnosis, better monitoring of symptoms, and new insights into the personalisation of care. It could take pressure off the health system, and help people be more in charge of their health and care. But people clearly have concerns about how some of these changes will affect them.
“The NHS has learnt the hard way that adopting new ideas and approaches without seeking people’s input ends up in costly delays in implementation, and often results in services that don’t quite meet people’s real life needs. This conversation is a chance for us all to make sure the NHS is on the right track.”
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