We considered and evaluated the evidence that emerged from contributions made by a huge range of stakeholders including CEOs , directors , managers , doctors , nurses , clinical staff and non-clinical staff across a variety of organisations including Trusts , local government , ICSs , care homes and the third sector .
Patients and the public also contributed to this research and we gathered feedback from 76 public engagement organisations and patient advocate groups . We conducted 54 hours of dedicated interviews and 47 facilitated discussions and workshops to create 34 case studies . We also received 509 responses to our Digital Primary Care survey . The methodology developed for these Rapid Insights reports will be valuable in the future to help us better understand what it is needed to scale up and adopt innovations . It is a legacy that will remain even after the end of the pandemic .
At the end of our work to gather and consider the excellent innovations and changes to working practice we were able to distil our understanding into half a dozen crucial points .
Four key areas of focus
• Health Inequalities
Disparity in health outcomes is more obvious now . Where you live , your ethnicity , your gender , all have an impact on the level of care and treatment you receive .
• Workforce
Recruiting , retaining and developing talent will be a priority in this everchanging landscape . Reskilling , upskilling , redeployment , managing resources effectively as we go into more hybrid ways of working , will play a vital role in ensuring staff are equipped to manage future challenges . It will be also crucial to ensure work-life balance is maintained , remote working continues to be effective and staff wellbeing remains an absolute priority .
• Demand and Capacity Management
Increased demand and pressure on services from the rising backlog , waiting lists , long-term COVID cases , mean we need to proactively think about how this will be managed .
• Digital and Technology
Embracing , evaluating and encouraging the use of technology to be more efficient and try to become ‘ pandemic proof ’. Ensuring organisations are equipped to deliver in this way , but also checking that patients are able to access services .
Two critical enablers
• Leadership
During the pandemic , the values of emotional intelligence , compassion and empathy in helping build resilience and supporting staff became even clearer and the need to keep these at the forefront of our work is critical .
• Patient and Public Involvement
Patient and public involvement is vital and needs to be at the heart of any decisions to ensure services are person-centred and respond effectively to their care needs .
There are still significant challenges ahead with much work to be done to build the right infrastructures , find the right funding models and provide the staff support and training needed to facilitate the spread and adoption of innovations , not to mention managing the ever-growing backlog .
We stand ready to work with all our stakeholders to understand how we can continue to support our health and care system to face these new challenges and capitalise on the opportunities that were presented to us during the pandemic as well as those that will emerge in the months ahead .
6 Transforming Lives Through Innovation