NHS COVID-19 has shown the NHS can change. Let's turn that to our advantage

Summary

We can use what we’ve learned from the crisis to make a 21st-century service fit for patients and staff alike, says Joel Schamroth in a blog to the Guardian.

This pandemic is forcing us to rethink how we deliver healthcare. For too long patients have experienced fragmented services, administrative hurdles and unreliable lines of communication. The “patient experience” often remains an afterthought in the NHS, leading to worse health outcomes, and costing the NHS dearly.

The lesson the public is learning is that money can be made available when it’s deemed to be important. In a matter of weeks COVID-19 has shown us that change is possible.