Comments

Tom

I had a quick look at your slides - as you know they are both much too detailed and yet totally lack detail without your monologues... They are as they always have been purely and simply prompts for your great storytelling.

As I went through them I was very pleased to see that these slides are full of good points in terms of fixing the problems. I can only imagine the show you put on to accompany this power point presentation - I am sure it had the room buzzing.

I believe that all those who are currently doing a great job in lowering costs, improving wellness and health care outcomes, and using digital technologies to record, store, and communicate health care data would be in 2 minds about what you present and how you present it..... As I am.....

1) They would welcome your efforts in highlighting the issues and presenting some of the solutions that are working in 2008.

2) They would not welcome your sensationalism or your cynical take on the 'unintended consequences' of health care delivery today. They know that the 'sick role' which patients adopt is a key element in health and wellness outcomes. They are trying to arrest that 'sick role syndrome' but it is as much a cultural issue as a systemic issue so they need help not unfettered criticism. [The 2 week Doctors strike of 1980s in California (?) proved once and for all that hospitals are dangerous for your health - yeah you remember fewer patients died in those glorious 2 weeks... But times have changed and more positive changes are on the way... There are many more positive than negative things to say about the whole health care deal in 2008....]

BUT hey you are Tom Peters - you are first and foremost a showman! So keep up the good work because on balance it is better to promote health care and wellness issues the way you do than not at all......

Richard.

Posted by Richard Lipscombe at March 25, 2008 7:16 PM

Hi Richard – I love your story of the two week strike. It reminded me of a story in my healthcare career.

In 1997 I worked with a bunch of family doctors in an Out of Hours service. This is the outside 9-5 Monday to Friday emergency service.

On the Saturday of the funeral of Princess Diana in September 2007 there were no visits to the centre and only one phone call. My memory is not perfect but on a ‘normal’ Saturday we would have expected a minimum of 100 phone calls, 6 requests for home visits and 30 visits to the treatment centre.

The exact numbers are not important for the story – the issue is about ‘take up’ of services. If services are there people will use them.

Like you and Tom I have been arguing long and hard for greater investment and emphasis on ‘health’ and ill health prevention rather than treatment.

The nub of the issue is that this might mean the inevitable closure of some hospitals as we redeploy money to the ‘health’ agenda. That of course is a bullet few politicians want to bite.

The reality is we cannot afford large hospitals in every town when a large proportion of that work can be done in a primary health care setting. We need to specialise in centres of excellence in hospitals and get most of what we now call ‘healthcare’ done in the GP (Family Doctor) surgery. Only people who are ill NEED to go to hospital. People who are well should not cross the threshold of any hospital other than as visitors!

Hospitals are definitely not healthy places to be and we need to be in and out of those places as quickly as we can - hopefully better and certainly not dead!

There are millions of super dedicated healthcare staff worldwide offering caring professional services to people who are ill.

There are far more millions of us who are (and have always) looking after their own health by adopting healthy lifestyles.

We need to just get the balance right and it is brilliant that you and Tom are on the bus. We can all make a difference.

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 26, 2008 6:32 AM

Seems to be techncial glitch - sorry for duplication Cathy :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at March 26, 2008 6:36 AM