The NHS Productivity Puzzle: How Workforce Tech Can Help
February 27, 2025
Welcome to The Connection: Where Tech Meets Humanity in Healthcare podcast, brought to you by RLDatix.
In this episode, Darren Kilroy, Medical Director at RLDatix, and Liz Jones discuss the annual NHS Operational Planning Guidance, exploring how healthcare organisations can balance strategic planning with practical implementation. They discuss the challenges of meeting efficiency targets, the role of technology in healthcare improvement, and the importance of keeping the patient experience at the centre of planning.
👉 At RLDatix, we understand that health and care is a complex landscape where technology must work hand-in-hand with human expertise. In our podcast, we explore how our commitment to safety and operational efficiency can improve the daily experiences of health and care professionals while keeping patient safety at the core of everything we do. 🎉
To find out more, visit rldatix.com. 🏥
Welcome to The Connection: Where Tech Meets Humanity in Healthcare podcast, brought to you by RLDatix.
In this episode, Darren Kilroy, Medical Director at RLDatix, and Liz Jones, Chief Customer Officer at RLDatix, discuss the annual NHS Operational Planning Guidance and its significance in the context of the upcoming ten-year plan. They explore how healthcare organisations facing efficiency and productivity targets can find sustainable improvements without constantly seeking revolutionary changes.
Here are some talking points from the conversation:
- The challenge of finding new ideas for efficiency when organisations are "out of ideas"
- How small, incremental improvements can lead to significant productivity gains
- The concept of "living within your means" and its application to healthcare finances
- The growing role of data and technology in healthcare planning and delivery
- Integrating community care and reducing fragmentation in patient journeys
- The importance of including patient and carer perspectives in healthcare planning
Through personal anecdotes and professional insights, Darren and Liz highlight the human impact of policy decisions and technology implementation. Their conversation moves beyond abstract planning to consider how operational changes affect both healthcare staff and patients, particularly in community settings.
👉 At RLDatix, we understand that health and care is a complex landscape where technology must work hand-in-hand with human expertise. In our podcast, we explore how our commitment to safety and operational efficiency can improve the daily experiences of health and care professionals while keeping patient safety at the core of everything we do. 🎉
To find out more, visit rldatix.com. 🏥
Episode Highlights
- [00:59 - 04:52] The Challenge of Innovation in NHS Planning
The operational planning guidance returns annually, but this year feels more significant due to the upcoming ten-year plan. Healthcare leaders express being "out of ideas" for achieving 4% productivity and 1% efficiency savings. Darren challenges this notion, emphasising that innovation doesn't require revolutionary ideas but rather doing existing things better through tenacity and continuous improvement. Small, incremental changes in areas like job planning can collectively deliver significant efficiency gains.
- [05:26 - 07:40] Living Within Your Means
The concept of "living within your means" is explored as a central theme in healthcare planning. Darren discusses the importance of setting honest expectations about available finances while showing how working differently and leveraging technology can help liberate additional funding. Liz highlights the misalignment often seen between nursing teams' budgets and finance departments, suggesting opportunities for improvement through better coordination and resource visibility.
- [11:42 - 19:28] Community Care and Personal Experience
Drawing from personal experience as a family carer, Liz shares insights about navigating fragmented community healthcare services. She describes challenges like uncoordinated care teams, redundant equipment deliveries, and the intimate nature of home care. The conversation explores how technology could improve coordination between hospital services, neighbourhood teams, and other community providers. They discuss the potential idea of giving family carers visibility of staff rosters and including them more formally in the care team.
👉 At RLDatix, we understand that health and care is a complex landscape where technology must work hand-in-hand with human expertise. In our podcast, we explore how our commitment to safety and operational efficiency can improve the daily experiences of health and care professionals while keeping patient safety at the core of everything we do. 🎉
To find out more, visit rldatix.com. 🏥
Episode Resources
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