Improving patient flow is a burning issue and rightly so.
Our healthcare system is struggling from the sheer weight of demand and there are many contributing factors.
People living longer, high elective waiting lists, slow post-pandemic recovery and the increasing complexity of patients’ past medical history are all feeding into it.
As a result, the number of trusts with bed deficits is growing.
Queues of ambulances are increasingly waiting at hospitals and more patients are receiving care in corridors, cupboards or carparks.
However, it is not just the patients who will benefit from better patient flow.
As a doctor, I’m one of hundreds of thousands of clinicians and other NHS staff experiencing these flow pain points during every shift.
As the face of the NHS at the front door, we are repeatedly met with the completely understandable frustrations of patients and family members alike and spend a significant amount of our time apologising for the delays in their care.
Over time, this moral injury of constantly disappointing patients takes its toll, physically and mentally.
Clinician burnout is a topic that’s close to my heart, with 34 per cent of NHS staff currently reporting burnout and exhaustion.
Poor digital tools only exacerbate these high rates, with poor IT infrastructure frequently cited as a significant contributor to burnout.
