Healthcare systems around the world are under threat. Despite the best efforts of healthcare leaders and workers alike, crises related to access, demand, workforce shortages and staff burnout continue to wave through the healthcare sector.
The pandemic was not the sole catalyst of these issues. A host of other considerations were troubling the sector long before the pandemic struck. These included aging and growing populations, increased non-communicable disease burden, economic inequality and a reliance on outdated technology, coupled with long-standing workforce supply and wellbeing issues.
Facing up to all this has placed an incredible strain on healthcare systems such as the NHS. It has also put senior leaders under immense pressure to act decisively and promptly.
What that means is that today’s healthcare leaders need to catalyse change within what are highly complex, often siloed, organisations. They need to secure their organisations’ future by building trust with patients and staff and achieving consensus on what needs to change, as well as why and how.
Processes and operations need to be optimised in a patient-centric manner and with no disruption to current day-to-day business activities, and patient outcomes need to be improved by freeing up staff time and empowering them to deliver improvements on the care frontline.
