With the health and social care workforce becoming increasingly stretched due to rising demand and limited resources, there is growing agreement that new technology could be one way to ease the burden and drive quality improvements. Technological disruption including artificial intelligence (AI) and new cognitive technologies could increase the efficiency of nursing and clinical staff - allowing them to spend more time with patients and on improving outcomes. New technology may also play a role in shifting health behaviours by changing the way people consume health information and monitor their personal wellbeing. If such developments result in a healthier society then that too could reduce the burden on frontline staff.

But while many acknowledge the importance of new technology to delivering better and more efficient healthcare, we have yet to understand how best to adopt and diffuse the many innovations currently underway. This discussion, which forms part of CPP's year long health and social care inquiry aims to reframe the local, national and global debate about the future of the healthcare workforce. Global health expert Dr Mark Britnell will talk about how harnessing technology allows us to reimagine models of care and levels of workforce agility that will enable us to find new and adaptive ways of driving economic growth and human prosperity. In this context, some of the specific questions we will explore include:

What are the solutions to the workforce issues facing health systems today? What can the NHS learn from the experiences of other countries? How can technology spur new models of care and what policy changes are needed to bring these about? How can technology alleviate the immediate health workforce shortages in the context of the current spending plans and in the wake of Brexit? What would the practical challenges be in terms of big data and AI application and management?

Please note, this event is invitation only. If you would like to receive invitations to public events, please sign up to our newsletter.