Dr Stephen Shortt, GP and clinical lead for developing an accountable care system in Greater Nottingham, talks about the collective work to join up health and social care in the region.
Any work to transform the NHS must begin with an honest conversation; an open dialogue between patients, staff and system leaders that acknowledges a simple truth: our health and social care system, as is currently designed, configured and experienced, is not sustainable for the future.
We must be honest: the most admired public healthcare system in the world is straining under an ever-increasing burden of demand. As a GP, I see this daily. Our system is fragmented, confusing, inefficient and expensive. Experience of health is often unequal, the provision of evidence-based healthcare is uneven, and the challenge of coordinating care in an increasingly complex and fragmented delivery system is widely acknowledged. And, worst of all, I believe that this means that the care we give to our patients risks falling short of the standard we would wish for them. An inexhaustible supply of funding to fix this simply does not exist.
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