Surgical Care Observatory

Theme Leads:  Dr Helen Hughes and Emma Findlay

 

Background

Technological innovation in surgery is accelerating rapidly with a plethora of novel solutions being developed at pace. To fully capture the potential of technological advancement, it is crucial the NHS prioritizes and adopts solutions that best meet the needs of users, and which are cost effective and implementable.

For the benefits of surgical technology to be realised, that technology must be effectively embedded within the surgical care system in which it is intended. Many technologies fail to deliver on their projected benefits due to ineffective system adaptation and therefore clinical outcomes are not fully achieved.

Successful prioritization and implementation of surgical technologies is a socio-technical challenge for the NHS. Technology innovations cannot be separated from the dynamic, multi-faceted healthcare system in which they will be embedded and the integration of technologies into surgical workflows requires jointly optimised systems where the social and technical components are considered equally.

These factors must be understood and factored into prioritization and implementation of novel technologies to fully reap the clinical and organizational outcomes intended.

Areas of Focus

Our focus within the HRC is on the socio-technical implications of new technologies and how we can better prioritize new technological solutions with these in mind. The work is structured around how we can support and understand these aspects and jointly optimise them to facilitate successful implementation.

Horizon scanning: We will work with internal and external stakeholders to gain a deep understanding of the way surgical technology is currently scanned for and prioritized within the NHS. Analysis will be undertaken to identify areas of improvement and a report will be produced that provides a toolkit for surgical horizon scanning going forward.

Needs analysis:  We will conduct socio-technical stakeholder analysis to identify un-met clinical and organisational needs within the NHS. We will work on case studies to explicate un-met needs and adoption pathways.

System readiness:  Through multi-case analysis, we will develop a novel system readiness scoring tool that will support the ongoing prioritization and implementation of technology by categorising incoming technologies based on their system change requirements.

 

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