Health Secretary takes aim at AI critics and declares war on NHS bureaucracy

[Northerner]

Although in the midst of the Coronavirus crisis, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has still found time to take a swipe at the critics opposed to his plans for technology investment in the NHS and has also said that he plans to tackle bureaucracy across the health service.

Over the past 12 months or so Hancock has been doubling down on his strategy to improve the use of technology across the NHS. As Health Secretary he has launched a new technology strategy, established a new central digital unit (NHSX), launched a £250 million AI Lab and introduced spend controls that he hopes will drive change.

However, critics have expressed concern that Hancock and the government are rushing ahead with modern technologies, whilst forgetting to fix the plumbing. He said that these “techno-pessimists are wrong”.

https://diginomica.com/health-secretary-takes-aim-ai-critics-and-declares-war-nhs-bureaucracy

Hancock is an accountant, he knows next to nowt about how hospitals and healthcare work, and even less about technology 🙄 I still haven't a clue how he got into the job of Health Secretary.

 

[grovesy]

When the technology presently used is not fit for purpose what does he expect. I have read reports from some medics saying they have to log on to multiple systems to access information.

 

[Docb]

He is however absolutely right - whether he can fix it is another matter altogether. The NHS does not function as a unit, it functions as a set of separate functions each of which goes its own way.

We see it in the diabetes world. Some GP surgeries allow access to your data, some don't. Some DN's say eat carbs, some don't. Some say use a meter, some don't. Any other business would not tolerate that.

 

[Northerner]

Remember this? 😱

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/sep/18/nhs-records-system-10bn

I remember at the time it was being designed it was a huge cash cow/gravy train for consultancy companies, but so badly coordinated that one set of consultants recommended hardware which was then incompatible with what the software consultants were recommending 😡 Massive amounts of money wasted before anything had even got going, stalled at every stage with consultants being paid up to £600 and hour for basically sitting on their backsides waiting for another part of the project to do their bit

We're now talking about a similar amount of money being wasted on HS2 before a single shovel has been dug

 

[mikeyB]

It doesn’t take a great deal of effort to create an IT system in the NHS that is compatible across the board, including GPs. You just need the will. That’s what happens in NHS Scotland.