Published: 27/10/2005 Volume 115 No. 5979 Page 19
A new private sector partnership of clinicians and other health professionals fits the concept of a collaborative future, says Ali Parsa
An ancient Persian proverb says: 'If you want God to laugh, give him your twoyear plan.' I am not a believer in prediction, but I know this: life has never been so good.
As a result, the three underlying drivers of healthcare have been irreversibly transformed. Everyone speaks of 'the demographic time bomb' and the unprecedented acceleration of technological change, yet few focus on perhaps the most important shift in healthcare consumption: the cultural metamorphosis of our society.
The generation that changed being young in the '60s and changed being middle-aged in the '80s will permanently transform the nature of healthcare demand as it gets older.
This is both a great challenge and a fantastic opportunity. We have been here before and for similar reasons. In the '50s and '60s, technological change and rising consumer expectations forced through a revolution in our food distribution industry. In the '80s and 90s, major industries such as telecomms and air travel were likewise transformed.
In all cases, the results were significantly cheaper, more efficient, more accessible and better-quality services for all. The same constructive attitude is required now. To this end, forward-looking governments across the globe, ours included, are embarking on fundamental reforms.
As inevitable as change is, it is also understandable that some will feel apprehensive. Such concerns are unwarranted. Healthcare managers should be given greater ability to unleash the potential of their organisations.
The NHS has so much that is excellent. As the biggest UK purchaser of health services, it will have a real opportunity both to focus on excellence in the services it provides and to demand it from whom it buys. To offer our people the healthcare they deserve, we need to mobilise the best of our national talents and resources by developing an open framework which encourages innovation and does not exclude many in favour of a few.
Our proposal is to build a chain of Centres of Clinical Excellence, staffed by independent and NHS professionals working on a co-operative basis (news, page 7, 6 October). This should be one of the many models on offer. Our concept is based on a firm belief that healthcare is not, as some would argue, a commodity provision needing a factory-like solution, but a professional service. Professional services can best innovate if the professionals are in control.
Therefore we have created the largest UK partnership of consultant clinicians with the aim of making every contributor (manager, clinician, nurse, cleaner etc) an owner. Ownership is critical as it guarantees true ability to control. We support our healthcare professionals with access to one of the strongest resource bases ever assembled by the private sector in UK healthcare.
No one model will have anywhere near all the answers patients deserve.
To that end, we need collaboration between different models. For our part, we offer our resources to any healthcare organisation seeking entrepreneurial partnership in their pursuit of excellence.
To overcome the new challenges of providing great healthcare for all, principally we need a new attitude.
Mediocrity has, for many years, taught us to keep our feet firmly on the ground and our heads well out of the clouds.
The truth is in life much is achieved when we allow our feet well off the ground and keep our heads in the clouds.
Ali Parsa is chair of Centres of Clinical Excellence.
ali. parsa@clinicalexcellence. org. uk
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