The Crisis in Healthcare
6 years, 5 months, 17 days
5 February 2023
It was still cold in London last week, but the sun was glinting off the dials of Big Ben, as Anna van Poucke and I spent a wonderful couple of hours in Westminster discussing the challenges facing the world and her perspective and experience as our Global Head of Healthcare.
Reflecting on that conversation it struck me how the issues facing healthcare are a microcosm of both the crises and the opportunities of the world as a whole. And those issues and a holistic portrait of a potential solution are beautifully set out in this Healthcare Horizons report to which many colleagues contributed, that was published only a few weeks ago.
Good health, and therefore good healthcare, is one of the absolute fundamentals of quality of human life. Unsurprisingly it occupies one of the top spots in the UN SDGs, number 3, ‘Ensure healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages’. Yet like many of the SDGs, attainment is bedevilled by demand continuously outpacing the supply and gross inequality both in the ability of different parts of the world to afford good healthcare, and in individuals’ access to healthcare.
In the report’s introduction Anna vividly conveys the waves of crises that pound the sector, and the destructive effect it has on the lives of those who work in the industry. It would be easy to read such analysis and despair of a solution. Yet the report conveys some significant insights that certainly give me hope.
Technology and innovation are often seen as the magic bullet that can solve everything, yet we have all experienced that whilst technologies can be transformational they can also be dehumanising and carry unforeseen negative consequences. For example in the UK local doctors, in GP surgeries, seek to mitigate the unmanageable burden on their time by continuing to use virtual appointments, and patients in many cases resist that because seeing someone is so important to them. The report argues against over-reliance on technology and for a more inclusive, consumer-focussed yet data-driven approach to drive better outcomes and greater efficiency for everyone.
I love the way the report dismisses the unsustainability of the usual recipes for action – throw more money at healthcare and train more staff – and instead advocates a more radical approach yet one that doesn’t rely on great leaps of innovation but clear-sighted implementation of the tools we have today.
I learned a lot from the time I spent with Anna. But I was also inspired by her determination, her willingness to challenge to drive change, and her vision of a better future.