Ep 34. Is the pandemic really over, Dr Matt Inada-Kim

National Health Executive Podcast

In Episode 34 of the National Health Executive podcast, we are joined by NHS England’s national clinical director for infection, antimicrobial resistance and deterioration, Dr Matt Inada-Kim, to discuss whether the pandemic is really over, how the NHS has learnt from Covid-19 and what the NHS needs to do to prepare for the next global health incident.

Dr Inada-Kim said: “Whilst technically it [the pandemic] might be over in terms of the numbers, certainly from a Covid perspective, we’re very much still in maelstrom of the effects of it – particularly the backlog.

“But it’s not just catching up on the elective work in terms of surgery, operations or appointments but it’s also a backlog of preventative and chronic disease management that I don’t think we were optimally able to provide during the lockdown.”

Dr Inada-Kim went onto explain how he believes the health service needs a “sea change” to ensure patients are cared for in the right place and not just the most convenient one as well as highlighting the need to make use of industry partnerships to further accelerate the “ explosion of digital tech”.

He also went on to note need for better “measurement” in terms of how the NHS benchmarks quality and safety of care against both itself and other health systems.

“A lot of our initiatives appear to be focused around avoiding work – reducing activity, avoiding an admission, avoiding an attendance, reducing general practice appointments for instance – [but] we also need, with 50% of our energy, to be focusing on quality of care, the safety of care [and] ensuring outcomes for patients remain at the very forefront of everything we do.”

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