Problem Solving Techniques: NHS Hospital - Term Paper Example

 Problem solving techniques NHS hospital The main objective of NHS hospital, established in 1948, is to offer a comprehensive health service in order to promote and improve the mental and physical health of the public through diagnosis, treatment and prevention of illness. According to Elliott (2007), NHS hospital makes health care services available to every woman, man, and child in all populations regardless of where they live, their age, or their income status; and makes the cost of the health care service charge on the income of the nation just like other national necessities.

In attempting to accomplish its mandates, NHS hospital experiences various problems that need solutions in order to effectively offer the services to the population. Some of the general problems faced by the NHS hospital may include: waiting time for operations, high operating costs, medical records complications and other management problems. This paper therefore seeks to identify and explore problems facing NHS hospital and determine a solution strategy for the problems. NHS hospital experiences problems associated with medical records storage.

The management of NHS hospital plans that patients access their records online through Health Space technology service. The problem of accessing the patient records can be solved through this technology. The cost of the technology service plus the continuous management problems have resulted into a controversy. The NHS hospital is also experiencing problems related to planning, scope, budgeting, and practical patient value. The records service of the NHS hospital uses the Spine to solve its medical related problems.

The Spine consist of the following: personal demographics services which helps in storing the demographic information of every patient as well as their NHS number; the summary care record, this details the clinical information of the patients like adverse reactions and allergies to medicine; and the secondary uses services, this will utilize records of the patients in order to provide pseudonymised and anonymised statistics and business reports, planning and delivery of public health. The Spine, as a solution strategy, will offer as well a security service in order to ensure controlled access to the patient records and information.

However, this Health Space technology service is facing challenges in its applications. The challenge is that the application of the national system that was developed previously through the use of information technology is shared by various organizations as stated in Geoffrey (1998). Other problems faced by the NHS hospital include: data security risks, the hospital has minimal patient privacy and security regarding medical records. The hospital is today struggling to balance between the right to quality care and right to privacy of the patients which is very sensitive; failure to deliver clinical benefits; reservations of the medical staff; and clinical issues.

The structure of the NHS hospital and its finances is based ideally on clinical matters, a regional centre, and the need for primary health care. In solving the problems, the solution technique for these problems depends on the available money, the forms of treatment and care required, and the needs of people. As described in Revill (2004), the NHS hospital has underpinning set of principles that are used in solving problems related to clinical matters. These core principles demand that in order to provide satisfactory health care services, the poor and the rich are treated alike.

The principles also assert that wealth is not an advantage and poverty certainly not a disability. The solution strategy of the problem observes certain values in attempting to address the clinical problems and records use problems. Some of the values of the solution strategy include: Providing a wide range of comprehensive services A service for all not based on ability to pay, but on clinical need Shaping the services around preferences and needs of particular patients as well as their families Continuously working to improve the quality of the services and to minimize clinical errors Responding effectively to the needs of various populations Supporting and valuing the staff in solving the identified problems Encouraging unity among the staff in order to ensure seamless patient services Advocating for patient confidentiality of the patients and offering an open information access on the services, performance, and treatment Working to minimize inequalities and inequities in health and helping in keeping people healthy According to Rudolf (2010), the NHS hospital also adopts the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), a 1999 national body of health authority, in order to promote the quality of technology and treatment as well as the effective utilization of the available resources.

This is another solution strategy to the problems of NHS hospital. This solution strategy acts independently to provide national guidance on the exploitation of particular treatments and medicines as well as the treatment and care of the patients of the NHS hospital with specific illnesses. This solution strategy to clinical issues ensures that treatment is provided universally and not based on where an individual lives or ability to pay. The strategy, apart from its traditional types of guidance, is developing standards nationally for illnesses and diseases like stroke and dementia.

This will help in solving clinical problems facing NHS hospital. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) as a strategy offers various other solution techniques that could see NHS hospital solve its other problems and challenges. These solution techniques include: Technology appraisals; this solution technique determines whether a specific treatment or medicine is recommended, within NHS hospital, for use by patients or not. Clinical guidelines; this solution technique identifies appropriate care and treatment for patients with a particular condition and disease within the NHS hospital.

Interventional procedures guidance; this solution technique checks if interventional techniques and procedures that are used for treatment and diagnosis work well enough and safe enough for use routinely within the NHS hospital The NHS hospital has split its operations into various parts so as to address the problems faced in different areas of services. These divisions include: the family health services, this is often offered by chemists, doctors, ophthalmic opticians, and general dental practitioners; and the community services and provision of hospital health care such as those services that are offered by clinics, midwives, and health visitors as stated in Revill (2004).

In summary, according to Allyson (2004), problem solving techniques entails the application of ad hoc and generic methods in a systematic way in order to identify solutions for specific problems. Majorly, the problem solving techniques are usually related to mental health; however, organizations have resorted to the adoption of such techniques in solving their own organizational problems and challenges. The following are some of the problem solving techniques used in solving organizational problems, which even NHS hospital could apply: Abstraction technique: a problem is solved in the system’s model before engaging it to the actual system Lateral thinking: using an indirect or creative approach to the problem Morphological analysis: carrying out an assessment of the interactions and output of the whole system Brainstorming: solving problems through suggesting a variety of solutions and ideas until an optimum solution is found Analogy: applying already identified solution to solve an analogous problem Bibliography Allyson, M.

2004, NHS plc: the privatisation of our healthcare. London: SAGE Elliott, F. 2007, NHS bill for treatment of ‘health tourists’ soars to more than £62m. London: McGraw Hill. Geoffrey, R. 1998, From Cradle to Grave, 50 years of the NHS. Kings Fund, London: Springer. Jones, G. 2005, NHS not a world health service, say Tories. London: Springer Revill, J. 2004, NHS hospitals sink into debt to pay off PFI. Boston: McGraw Hill Rudolf, K. 2010, The New Politics of the NHS: From creation to reinvention.

New York: Radcliffe Publishing