When people call on the government to ‘do something’ about long waiting times, they usually want extra resources for direct patient care.

Not this time.

The President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, speaking at the Future Surgery conference, said, “If the government is serious about meeting the 18-week target then it’s got to get serious about investment in capital spend – even if that means difficult decisions about where that money is coming from. … We cannot continue to work in hospitals that are falling down and with IT systems that are falling over.”

It is now clear that the tone of discussion has changed since the Darzi report contrasted the sluggish growth in patient treatments with the rapidly growing clinical workforce. The familiar cry of ‘more resources to the front line’ has clearly run out of steam. Instead, attention has switched to the inadequate facilities, systems, and processes that staff have to grapple with throughout their working days.

In the next few posts we are going to take a closer look at this, and how staff time can be released to solve problems and treat more patients, without the need for lengthy and costly investments.

But we are conscious that every hospital is different – different IT systems, different challenges, and different partners in their primary, community and private healthcare sectors. So if you would like to discuss how we can solve your particular issues then get in touch. Together we can start mapping out your journey to higher productivity ahead of the coming Budget.