Bringing the NHS into the 21st Century

The NHS is a wonder to perceive and in 2014 was responsible for putting the U.K. ahead of 11 other Western countries in terms of healthcare. Yet despite its astonishing existence, this monolithic national treasure is still in the dark ages technologically speaking. This article looks at three advantages that bringing the NHS into the digital light would have.

Communications Efficiency

A report conducted by The Commonwealth Fund scored the NHS highly for its efficiency in running, quality of care, and value at patient level. Given that most NHS records are stored offline, for it to have achieved this status in its current paper based state, speaks volumes to the hard work and dedication of NHS staff.

With these credentials, the potential for improving the efficiency of this service by digitalising is huge. An example of this would be the time saved in transferring patient documents between GP surgeries and hospitals themselves. This is currently done via post, which is evidently slower and costlier than if it could be done by email.

Supply Chain Update

Most private healthcare and pharma companies on the scale of the NHS have already, or are in the process of, digitalising their supply chains. The primary reasons for this are focused around increasing the speed of research and development, optimising supply chain pharma logistics and enhancing the efficiency of clinical trials. 

These are all areas in which the NHS could stand to improve, not to mention the benefits to inventories, service levels and general productivity. When staff are provided with to-the-minute updates on stock levels, outgoing orders and delivery statuses, it cuts the chances of shortages and frees up time to further improve the service.

Patient Convenience

As with internal communications, lines of contact between patients and the national healthcare provider are usually through letters or over the phone. Taking the NHS online would mean an immediate move towards more patient centric care. If those in need of medical attention were able to visit a website to book appointments, check availability and order repeat prescriptions, it would save a significant amount of time for all parties involved. 

Additionally, with digitalised records the NHS would be able to access lengthy case notes, thus improving patient care by making detailed medical histories available to their healthcare professionals.

Although a mammoth task for those undertaking the digitalisation of the NHS, the improvements to the lives of leaders, staff and patients would be immeasurable. Just these three benefits would make it an entirely worthwhile endeavour, never mind the myriad of others it will most certainly bring.