Pharma and medtech have always been told to provide more for less. It is the universal plaint of the customer. But at this week's Wellards Annual Conference the imperative was issued by the government's QIPP czar, who also informed a packed audience that its business model, founded as it is on a presumption of ever-growing healthcare expenditure, was 'broken'. He told delegates they must not sell pills and gadgets; they must sell better health for less money. It was not just innovation in products that was needed, but innovation in the way those products were sold — more focus on the customer's and the patient's needs within the framework of government policy. This mindset revolution is, of course, necessitated by the parlous state of the world economy. And if one of the other speakers at the conference, Dr Gordon Coutts, is right, it could take a lot longer than we all expect to drag ourselves out of the financial mire. So, the sooner those minds start changing, the better.
A curious case of doublethink afflicts the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley every time he hears good news about the NHS. Last year and this he attacked the health service for failing to measure up against other nations' systems. Yet when research appears, as it did this week with a glowing account by the US-based Commonwealth Fund, praising the NHS for being among the world's best he says 'that's great, but we could do better'. England and Wales have also been shown in a comparative study published in the British Journal of Cancer this week to have delivered significant improvements in cancer care. Of course we should not be complacent. Of course we can do better. Everybody can. But if we are among the best in the world then we must be doing something right under the system we have. Perhaps the present system only needed a rethink? Perhaps a healthcare revolution is not needed after all?
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