Fourthly, digital services will provide more people the care they need in their homes and local communities. Digital technology must finally, after years of promise, become a key feature of the system for patients and professionals.
Digital technology is already a part of our everyday lives, and is increasingly becoming part of health services too.
We have already seen through the COVID response how many services were able to shift quickly to using digital platforms, without a reduction in quality of care. With the pandemic as the catalyst, we achieved greater transformation of digital services in a matter of weeks than we did in many years.
This shows what can be done – the challenge is now to build on this and take the opportunity to shift models for good.
If we get this right, the ways in which people access services will be more simple and more equitable, with greater innovation and choice for digital options bringing some services closer to homes than ever before.
People will have access to virtual diagnostic services, primary care and increasingly to more specialist services wherever they live – meaning that many unnecessary trips to hospitals and clinics can be avoided.
Throughout the system, proven technologies that improve care will be adopted faster and rolled out at scale.
Hi @alex thanks for posting this speech. There are some very interesting comments in there, not the least of which is the statement that we should expect new structures to be announced “in the coming weeks”.
I also think that the comment that "Māori involvement in determining direction, priorities, service design and delivery to address Māori health needs will be the norm, not the exception. " is a great step forward. The confirmation of the establishment of a Maori Health Authority with a clear mandate and not just to be an entity removed from decision making is a key improvement in my opinion and long overdue.
It was really interesting to be at the Digital Health Summit and consider Shayne Hunter’s question on equity and to look around the room and realise that very few of the people who do not have equitable health outcomes were represented in the summit . Those are the very people we should be asking as to how we could improve equity of outcomes.
Nicely put Gordon. I saw great intention but wonder how “tooled up” people feel in really understanding inequity and what it will take to make meaningful sustainable outcome. I thought Shayne spoke well about changing hearts and minds.
A key first step is partnership and you bring about an interesting point about the demographic who represent data and digital… I wonder if there is any health workforce data around this?
Agree with your comments Gordon and Alex - something that I should have mentioned on the panel is the importance of partnerships at the beginning of the journey, rather than when it comes to consultations or final steps. Consultations for some low equity groups/ethnic groups = we have decided for you, we just think it would be nice to have your opinion (but that doesn’t mean we will do anything with it - it just means we are seen to have taken it or tick box exercise!)
Thanks for this @alex . A significant challenge is how we organise the planning for the models of care change which will be supported by the new digital environment. For it to be effective, there needs to be a 3-way co-design by those delivering the services, their clients/patients/community and those designing the IT to support it.