The technology horizon: Preliminary review on technologies impacting the future health and social care workforce

Zaichen Lu, Katherine Booth, Matt Edwards, Rafael Popper, Alan Boyd, Barbara Jones, Ian Miles, Monika Popper, Guillermo Velasco

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Abstract

Technology has the potential to be a key enabler intransforming the delivery of health and social care inEngland: meeting the challenges of managing risingdemand from demographic changes, placing the patientor service user at the centre of care, and reducing costswhile improving the efficiency and productivity of theworkforce. The Department of Health (DH, 2012a) aimsfor England to be a world leader in health technology, anambition which is supported by the opening of theLondon Centre of Innovation Excellence in early 2013.However, there are uncertainties around whattechnologies will be developed, the pace at which theywill evolve and the stage at which they will be adoptedacross health and social care. What is more certain isthat their implementation will have significant overallimplications for the health and social care workforce.As part of our horizon scanning research, we haveworked with experts to develop a list of big picturechallenges facing health and social care (seewww.horizonscanning.org.uk). One of the findings of ourwork is that there is considerable uncertainty about howthe health and social care system can prepare forchanges resulting from innovation and technology, andhow the workforce will need to evolve to ensure thesuccessful adoption and diffusion of new devices,techniques and procedures so that workers, patients,service users and citizens can reap the greatest benefit.To address this, the CfWI are working with a team fromthe University of Manchester on a study of new andemerging technologies that are likely to impact thehealth and social care workforce.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherCentre for Workforce Intelligence
Number of pages23
Publication statusPublished - 2013

Keywords

  • foresight; horizon scanning; health systems

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