Obstructed - JIm Easton
- Why Change in Healthcare is So Hard And What We Can Do About It
Healthcare is one of the biggest industries and most important industries in the world. It touches billions of lives and consumes billions of pounds and dollars. But whilst most of the world's industries have undergone revolutions in the way they operate, Jim Easton argues that healthcare has remained relatively unaffected - still using an operating model that owes more to the 1970s than the early years of the 21st century. As a result, healthcare around the world struggles to satisfy the needs and desires of many patients, remains an industry with a poor safety record, and the people who pay for it, whether governments or individuals, get increasingly frustrated with spiralling costs.
Easton argues that this is no accident - that there are deep features particular to healthcare, in the cultures of medicine, in the culture of medical management and the politics that surrounds healthcare, that make positive change particularly hard in this industry. Unless this is understood and addressed, then simply applying the same methods that have driven transformational change in other industries is unlikely to be successful. But the good news is that there are things that can be done to modify these approaches to make them more successful in the complex world of healthcare. As well as diagnosing the problem, Easton makes recommendations that will assist doctors, nurses, wider healthcare professionals, executives and politicians increase their success in positively transforming this essential industry.
He is well placed to advise. As one of the most senior and experienced leaders in the UKs National Health Service, working in both the public and private sector and an advisor to governments in the UK and supporter of healthcare improvement and leadership development in many countries - his combination of experience and insight is unique - in this book he distils 30 years of that knowledge and outlines what everyone in healthcare can do to ensure the future, sustainable success of our vital healthcare industries and systems.
EAN: 9781068333606