And so another NHS Expo conference comes to an end. It was a lively 2 days with lots of amazing people coming together to share new ideas about the future of health and social care.

The conference was largely dominated by the digital and technical innovations that may help to create the NHS of the future (and make it better presumably)… I have always been interested in how technology may make a variety of health care improvements…I have written about one of my ideas here.

Sir @DrBruceKeogh providing a broad outline on recent ground breaking #healthandcare digital innovations #Expo16NHS

The digital news as reported by @keithgrimes was as follows:

Patients will be able to book appointments, order medications, and download records, US ‘Blue Button’ style, on a revamped http://www.nhs.uk to be launched at Expo 2017.
Anyone will be able to access detailed stats on performance in key areas such as dementia, diabetes, and learning disabilities
There will be online access to 111, which can lead to direct appointment, signposting, or callbacks.
By March 2017 there will be a directory of approved apps from March 2017, with subsequent support for wearables
12 hospitals to become “Digital Exemplars” – each receiving £10m funding, matched by trust, and partnering with world leader organisations.
The creation of a second round of ‘national’ excellence centres, with more detail to follow.
The creation of an NHS Digital Academy to teach Informatics skills to NHS staff and create the next generation of Clinical Chief Information Officers and Digital Health Leaders.

And for more digital ideas….

MY DIGITAL FOOD FOR THOUGHT…

Often, whilst working clinically as a midwife, I also find myself behaving like a robot… (Don’t worry… I obviously use my gut and intuition too)!…but really, as midwives we are calculating risk at all times….like a computer. Also…we follow certain pathways as midwives…if a blood pressure becomes out of range…we take the next prescribed step in making a referral or delivering a new treatment to fix it. A computer could do this.

Imagine a woman coming into a clinic to see a robot (of sorts). She is scanned, measured and given the full M.O.T that she would normally receive from a midwife, but it is the robot who calculates the risks and the next steps to take. At the end of the exam.. the robot gives the woman a print out report, which outlines what should be done next in light of any new findings. The robot can answer questions too…

…(hopefully better than google can)

…or it can tap into a Skype call with a registered health professional. Imagine a future like this..better or worse? In a pressured maternity service, this could indeed be the new way of things. Could I be replaced as a midwife?…’technically’?

I think not. But a digital future like this could certainly support midwives in practice. Would it be safer? are human errors more common than digital ones?… Certainly worth exploring I think.

What do women want from their midwife? A human face? compassion? Human touch?…None of these could be delivered by a robot (probably)… and so perhaps a digital future like this would afford midwives more time to be compassionate and ‘human’..

MOVING ON…

Also at Expo.. there was @roylilley….with @JaneMCummings

Singing ‘Always look on the bright side of life…’

Obviously they were doing this to celebrate and introduce #FABCHANGEDAY

..not far away now (19th October 2016)

And we also heard more singing as we enjoyed a very moving rendition of “I will try to fix you”…

By the @NHSChoir for the #KGAwards16 at #Expo16NHS

#kategrangerawards from #expo16NHS with bonus live sessions from @Choir_NHS

My colleagues and I also presented our #ShowsWorkplaceCompassion research for the first time and some of the other work we have been doing in partnership with @NHSEngland to commission for a positive staff experience. Thank you to everyone who came along and shared thoughts and ideas to help us shape this project.

I was also invited to join sessions on the

Maternity Transformation programme: Delivering the 2020 Vision at #Expo16NHS #MatImp #MatExp #BetterBirths #BUMP

and the …

@empathymuseum at #Expo16NHS #WalkAMileInMyShoes via @HealthFdn.

Click the links to read more….

Next year, I hope to be sharing more research and ideas. No doubt I will still be on my quest to improve the staff experience within health and social care..after all… patient experience and staff experience are both sides of the same coin..

2-sides-of-the-same-coin