With the health and social care system under relentless pressure, politicians, policy makers and commentators often gravitate towards simple narratives about solutions to the problems the NHS is facing. This online event series will examine some of the commonly held assumptions behind the solutions that are proposed for the NHS and test whether they are right. Each event will look at a particular area where there is a danger of groupthink and get a second opinion on whether the received wisdom is really correct. Sometimes, the answer is more complicated than we want to believe.
The second event in this series will ask whether the NHS really needs to steer more money to the front line and spend less on administration. This has been a constant refrain among politicians and even the public - but is it wrong or even backwards?
Commitments to spend more of the NHS budget on the “front line” are endlessly recited in speeches by NHS leaders and politicians alike. But a front line cannot operate without administration, resources and equipment. Doctors and nurses should not be wasting time on problems that administrators are much better suited to resolve. It is now widely accepted that the NHS spends too little of its budget on buildings and equipment for the long term, yet we still make the same mistakes. What is the mindset or institutional dynamic that causes this? If the goal to be more responsive and effective, is putting money to the frontline the best answer?
Chair: Nigel Edwards – Chief Executive, Nuffield Trust
Speaker: Dr Stephen Black, a data scientist and A&E expert
Panel:
Rebecca Rosen, GP and Senior Fellow, Nuffield Trust
Ron Agble, Director of Partnerships and Transactions, Royal Free London Trust
Join this new online event series to engage in challenging debate and get a second opinion on whether some of the fundamental assumptions in modern health policy really bear scrutiny.