Once a symbol of modernity; full of steam and the noise of engines, the second largest railway station roof-span in the UK. For 89 years it served the bustle, comings and goings of the northern powerhouse; Manchester.
Later, converted to a conference and exhibition centre, after several financial false starts, it is the idea venue for a good, old fashioned exhibition and conference. The huge span of the roof is unsupported from the ground. In its day, an engineering masterpiece. Today, it means there are no piers to obstruct the stand and stage builders.
An idea choice for this year's Health and Care Expo 2015. A brisk walk along the isles will tell you; IT and gismos and gadgets are alive and well in the NHS.
A pop-up university is a new twist, an agenda packed full of content, so complicated to read, a PhD in map reading is required and an App... what IT conference can even think of not having an App.
The conference show cased the work of Tim Kelsey and his complex battalions of committees and apparatchiks. And, the launch pad for Personalised Health and Care 2020. Sixty six pages; if IT is your thing... a bodice ripper!
That's the point, isn't it; 'if IT is your thing'. If it is not your 'thing' it should be. Wherever you work, whatever you do; surgeon or supplier, porter, GP, allied health professional, pharmacist, nurse, cleaner or consultant... the whole landscape, this report touches you in some way.
You are going to have to make a cuppa-builders, buy a large pack of Hobnobs and read it. You can usually cheat with the executive summary. Not in this case; it's a hopeless few paragraphs of aspiration. You'll have to get into the nitty gritty.
Let me try and make it a bit easier.
I'll let you off pages 1 to 9; waffle about what's what. Pages ten and 12 are interesting but not a must read and there is a call to arms on page 13. Pages 14 to 15 are a; 'where are we now' with some interesting factoids beloved of people who still use PowerPoint.
By now we are up to Chapter 4 and it gets to the point where you really are going to have to take over. Make for page 18 and off you go.
Throughout there are case studies that, personally, I find irritating, you might find inspiring. Actual perspiring starts from page 24 when ambitions are clarified, the time frames start to emerge and bytes are turned into bite. Yes, this is a plan with bite.
Be in no doubt, this time I really think they mean it.
Accreditation, Kitemarking, branding, priorities, measurements of digital maturity, real-time access to biometric data, interoperability, structured data standards, semantic web technologies, bar-coding, RDF, reporting standards. I'm exhausted and I'm only on page 35.
There is a new proposal (long overdue) for central data requirements to be collected only once. Hooooooray!
This is ambitious and pushy. The levers?
Commissioners will play a big part; insisting on data standards as part of the contracting process, leading to transparency in outcome quality. Implementation? A lot is down to HSCIC, the CQC, Monitor and the TDA.
I am by no means sure the HSCIC are funded or ready for this. The CQC can't do what they are supposed to do (producing accurate reports on time) never mind all this. Monitor and the TDA will be distracted by their candombie of the cannibals.
Regulators will do the usual punishment routine and if we are not careful, kill everything off.
If you are a supplier... watch out for the new buying consortia. Will the GPSoC contract, expiring 2018, be renewed?
I like this document; it reflected the mood of the conference; optimistic and hopeful. I like its ambition and the realisation, without managing information by the use of technology the NHS will become a gas-lamp service for poor people.
This is a 'get-on-with-it' document. Exciting. There are plenty of sticks, sadly few carrots. IT is no longer an NHS hobby, it is mainstream, intrinsic and essential. Go to page 58 for the eye watering timelines.
Do I have a problem? Yes, this is not free and at a time when the NHS is scratching for the last shilling, it will need to invest to modernise and to save. Where's the money coming from?
The report is honest and says;
'... we do not know what the future funding settlement will be.... for technological priorities."
So that's that, then?
No, this is too thorough, rousing and goose-bump good, to be left on the shelf. The autumn statement is due next month. Let's see how committed the Government really is to using data to transform our NHS and stump up some cash to convert a really good plan into action.
Have a good weekend.