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In group: Philosophy and ethics for health care improvement

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  • Thomas John Rose posted an update in the group Philosophy and ethics for health care improvement 4 months, 1 week ago

    My reflections on yesterday’s excellent webinar discussion: 

    Not only the relationship between technical vs relational in the QI process important; the same relationship in ‘work in healthcare’ and the state of both in the healthcare system are also important and need consideration. So far we have:

    ·         The QI process,

    ·         Work in healthcare, and

    ·         The healthcare system.

    What about the relationship between technical vs relational in what we are trying to improve?

    A recent cyber attach on a healthcare IT infrastructure, technical, brought Trusts to a standstill were as a period of doctor’s strikes, relational, have resulted in a number of cancelled appointments and ‘work’ not significantly disrupted.

    With the advent of EPRs and increasing reliance on AI the ‘technical’ aspects of work in healthcare is becoming more prevalent.

    Key to this relationship in today’s healthcare work environment is the effectiveness of your ‘technical’ infrastructure. Within this infrastructure I do regard work processes as a key element. If the technical infrastructure is not effective, as in most parts of the NHS and if processes are not designed and managed then human error, relational, is endemic and the relationship between technical vs relational becomes skewed and meaningless.

    The current practice of QI in the NHS, never mind the relationship between technical vs relational, will never resolve this situation. In terms of what I would like to see – 100% relational – but that would require 100% technical effectiveness.