Country Selector: United Kingdom
In the third article of our future health series, our panel of Ascom experts Fiona Kirk, Janine Thomas, Phil Stuart-Douek and Sophie Evans explore the technology that they believe will have the biggest impact on transforming health and social care now, and in the future.
Phil Stuart-Douek: It’s not a piece of technology that has, and is, continuing to transform healthcare, but a technological concept. Data. The gathering, use, storage, and transmission of data is what has, and will, continue to transform the NHS and healthcare.
Fiona Kirk: Robotic surgery. Although its development still has some way to go, robotic surgery is having a significant impact in terms of improving patient outcomes. It offers enhanced recovery allowing a quicker return to normality, there’s comparatively less pain, less blood loss, and it can help to release more high demand clinical resource. From a surgeon’s perspective precision surgery enables greater visualisation and enhanced dexterity.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also revolutionising diagnostics. We’re seeing some incredible breakthroughs already, especially within the early diagnosis of certain types of cancers - it will, without question, help to save many more lives.
Janine Thomas: I think E-OBS without a doubt has made the biggest impact. The digitalisation of physiological parameters and the ability to automate early warning scores has made the decline of patients more visible, allowing earlier intervention. This facilitates early diagnosis and management of sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock.
The Electronic prescription service has also been hugely successful for many patients – automating the sending of prescriptions to pharmacies, which dispense and deliver them to the patient’s door.
Another notable mention must be the emergence of the electronic insulin pump and remotely controlled CPAP machines, both of which help the patient to receive optimal treatment.
Sophie Evans: Technology has allowed the NHS to move away from paper. That sounds like a small thing, but the impact is considerable.
As a nurse, I spent countless hours bogged down in paperwork – either completing laborious forms or chasing misplaced documents. The benefit an electronic-based system can be felt not only by those on the frontline, but also by patients – their records and insights about their care can now be shared more freely and effectively across clinicians, which ultimately means better outcomes.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also revolutionising diagnostics. We’re seeing some incredible breakthroughs already, especially within the early diagnosis of certain types of cancers - it will, without question, help to save many more lives.
About the Ascom Future Health panel
Phil Stuart-Douek has more than 30 years’ experience as a registered nurse working within A&E departments, intensive care, neurosurgical and vascular surgical wards. For the past 12 years Phil has used his experience working on the frontline of healthcare, including volunteering as a community first responder for the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, and as a clinical consultant for health technology businesses.
Fiona Kirk’s career started with 20 years in the NHS as a ward sister in a high acuity Neurosurgical ward in Liverpool and a midwife in Durham, before joining transfusion diagnostics specialist, Quotient, and medical device brands Medela UK and Molnlycke Health Care.
Sophie Evans is a registered nurse. She worked within the NHS for more than seven years as a surgical staff nurse and then a critical care nurse at Wales’ largest critical care unit at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.
Janine Thomas is a registered nurse. She’s a clinical informatics nurse specialist, having previously worked with Wolverhampton City Primary Care Trust and AGFA Healthcare UK.