Mar 23•5 min read
A Digitally Creative NHS — a realistic opportunity?
People talk a lot about STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) as being the elements desperately needed to sustain an economy and an advancing technological one too.
I believe it really should read STEAM, the ‘A’, being for the Arts.
The fusion of the arts, sciences and business is the bundling of a variety of ways of thinking together to harness the potential.
We need to get away from thinking the Arts is a dreamy subject with airy fairy people. It is demeaning and lacks the foresight of what contribution someone who values this subject and area could and can make.
Thinking differently is what every team and company needs.
Now what could a digitally creative NHS workforce be?
Is it a thing of imagination? Pipe dreams?Or could it really be reality?
I believe it is something we badly need, and now.
Just imagine the best service that you could give for, let’s say district nursing, money being no option. Just explore the endless possibilities. Then take a look at the biggest technology companies, most are platform based, trading on networks.
Here’s an idea:
Imagine your client, patient, service users (or whatever we are calling people these days) attending a gaming café, and partake in games, be it a board game, VR game or console based game, so that they are able to may to do their cognitive, practical or exercise programme as prescribed by their OT, Physio, Speech and language Therapist or Social Worker?
Loading, formerly known as C:\ Side Quest, is nestled in the arches next to the Palace Pier on Brighton’s seafront. It is a gaming café of sorts; board games, console games or stand up arcade games. It gets full up and busy very fast at the weekends.
Now take this idea of gaming bar/café, and imagine that the people inside are their to do their exercise programmes with VR headsets or to find out about technology that can help them with their life, a hub of sorts, a drop in place for anyone in the community.
Places like Loading exist because people like to go somewhere to play games, be it with a friend or to join a meet up group to play a board game battle of wits, people want to belong, be a apart of a community and socialise.
Reimagining a purpose such as Loading for an alternative one such as a health hub with a twist, you can go for technology advise, what apps to use, VR games that could be prescribed there for you to use, enabling digital participation in a different form, where you can come together as a community or as an individual.
Where film nights bring together health professionals also, or talks around local digital and technological products. A meet-up where developers links with health professionals and the community, asking what do they really need, what is the need.
Curate talks around health for the local population, being and getting involved, persistently, creates a dynamic culture that is thinking ahead and staying ahead.
Or even a Codebar event (where underrepresented people can go to learn coding) each week specifically for NHS workers, so that they can at least learn about coding, the basic, or more, and have a an understanding of digital products and the web works.
If we don’t start tackling this the gulf will become very wide, very quickly between the digital world and the NHS work force.
We need to explore the possibilities of what is happening in the community and repurpose it, copy it and expand on the original.
But we also need to tackle the training and support for NHS workers to deliver what the Topol Review and NHS Long Term Plan wants to deliver.
Dream and imagine.
The future of healthcare needs this, especially now. A new way, a vision, a help along developed by the people and work force for where they work and live, their local community.
We need more people to:
Explore.
The possibilities are endless.
Discover.
What will you find, where will it lead you to?
Create.
Would or could exist?
There needs to be a base, a point, a hub, a collective focal point that can emerge, be present and deliver what its community needs, as a collective between the population, the work force (NHS, GPs, hospitals, social services, CCGs etc).
Fragmentation of services can longer be an excuse or be acceptable.
We need to co-exist or we will become surplus.
**Bits and bobs:
If you’d like to find out more about how some of those big tech companies were founded, their stories, which are really interesting and inspiring, and some golden nuggets of info around mistakes and failures do check out the following podcasts on either Android or iTunes:
Khan Academy, CodeAcademy, Udemy, Udacity to name a few. A lot of it is free.
Codebar.io — don’t be afraid to attend if it’s your first time, they are the friendliest welcoming bunch of people who have been in the same position
One HealthTech is a good place to check out if you want to learn about healthcare and technology.
