Beginnings of a healthy partnership

Feb 9 2010 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

LAST week the CBI partnered with the North East Strategic Health Authority and One North East to discuss how the business sector can work with the NHS to drive innovation.

Why? Because standing still is not an option for either the NHS or the region. While our healthcare services have excellent ratings, our people have a poor record of health.

The cost of healthcare is rising inexorably as new technology and drugs become available, while demand is mounting as our population ages and has ever higher expectations of what the NHS should provide.

New treatments, better clinical practices and new drugs and technologies are changing the way care is delivered. Patient’s needs are changing too as a result of demographic trends and lifestyle choices.

And to top it all, 12 years of large annual increases in funding are spluttering to an end – while increased patient expectations cannot simply be deactivated or reversed.

The solution is to do more with less, finding ways to reduce the cost of healthcare without compromising the quality of care.

In 2009, approximately £4.6bn was invested in health and healthcare services in the North East alone and nationally during the same period the NHS had a revenue budget of £98.3bn.

The opportunity for business to provide innovative services and products is huge and if we can develop world-class products in the North East, the potential to export our knowledge is great.

Last week’s workshop focused on bringing healthcare professionals together with business people to look specifically at how we could innovate to improve services around “falls” and “rural healthcare”.

The aim was to try and prevent the problem and create a healthy North East rather than providing “sticking plaster” services to “fix” a sick region.

The region has recently been awarded Government funding to set up a Healthcare Innovation Education Cluster in recognition of the potential within the region in healthcare services.

The CBI are looking forward to participating in this vital work and believe that last week’s event signified the beginning of a critical dialogue which will support the ongoing transformation of the NHS in the North East, ensure the health of our people and support the growth of our knowledge and business potential in the vast global healthcare market.

Sarah Green is regional director of CBI North East