At the moment the NHS is too diversified, and there is no over all thought, about how continuity of care can be achieved with in the NHS. Patients with many conditions are pushed from pillar to post, which costs lives, and the NHS money. It also restricts what the NHS can achieve due to consultants and others attending unnecessary appointments.
A co-ordinated plan supervised by a care co-ordinator should facilitate a unique path for each patient. A personalised not institutional journey.
Those with multiple problems should be placed under a new type of pathway and seen by a specialist person, who can then see the whole problem and decide their requirements quickly, rather than be seen by many specialist surgeons as the problem holding up others.
Commission on the future of health and social care in England: A new settlement for health and social care – final report This report is an excellent start to the debate on how realistically joined up thinking will be tackled and ‘won’ once and for all nationally not just in some regions. This will support true partnership working across health and social care, leaving only the need to tackle the internal culture of bureaucracy and poor joined up thinking.
I have Multiple problems and I get very annoyed when I'm sent from one specialist to another, for the same problem I/E arthritis .To me Arthritis is the same disease no matter where it appears. Yet consultants can't treat the whole person now, this means many appointments and blood tests are duplicated. I also have other health problems but a New IT system for GP being trialled in Berkshire can identify problems, if successful then it must be launched nationwide, and not dumped.
Care Co-ordinator sounds good but what is wrong with that being your GP ?. AND unless everyone stops supporting their own empires then it won't happen. Look whats happened to this Super/duper IT system that cost the taxpayer £m's thats still not working properly !. Heads need banging and asses kicking, it's down to poor management , unless it's more open to public accountability from all in the NHS.
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