The Health Foundation’s NHS Productivity Commission has published a landmark report setting out the huge economic benefits and improvements to patient care that could be achieved through a fundamental rewiring of the NHS in England to improve productivity.
Matthew Bell, Frontier lead for Health and Care, led on a policy options paper with Catherine Davies, that focused on the role that technology – including AI – can play in contributing to those savings and improved outcomes.
Among the recommendations to improve the take-up of proven technologies is a focus on creating a demand-led market for innovation, including:
Improved signalling of local priorities, backed by contracting and funding
More flexible financing options, including a longer-term investment fund from which staff could benefit
Rapid evaluation that is linked to adapting roll-out rather than assessing pilots
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"Scaling successful technologies and related measures is a different challenge to generating new ideas.
Our work focuses on the financial, regulatory and capability requirements that are needed to scale the technologies that are going to make a difference in the coming decade."
Matthew Bell
Frontier lead for Health and Care
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The key to unlocking productivity
The Commission found that the health service has been consistently held back by short-term planning, fragmented accountability, excessive regulation and insufficient capability to deliver change. It argues that productivity can be improved by using the health system’s existing resources - people, equipment and technology - more effectively. The report sets out ten key recommendations to help deliver the change needed, including:
Establishing a stable, 5-year planning and investment framework to support long-term productivity growth
Creating a dedicated unit tasked with releasing the NHS from unnecessary regulation, reporting and compliance requirements
Recognising the essential role played by NHS leaders, managers and staff working in managerial, analytical, digital and commercial roles by developing a workforce plan for non-clinical teams
Establishing a national test-and-learn approach to identify, evaluate and scale models of care and emerging technologies, including capabilities to evaluate, adopt and spread AI at pace
Strengthening the role of NHS regions and giving greater devolved freedom and responsibilities for improving NHS services and productivity locally
Click here to read the full report, ‘Breaking the cycle: how to build a more productive NHS’
