Why technology alone is not the answer to meeting the data needs of NHS organisations

On 26th May, we were delighted to attend this year’s Public Sector Data Summit, to listen to public sector organisations discuss how technology is enabling change across organisations and to meet like-minded individuals eager to learn the latest trends and best practices that will revolutionise the management and analysis of crucial data. The lesson we learned was simple – technology alone and domain knowledge alone cannot deliver the strategies required to meet the data needs of NHS organisations. Instead, a combination of the right technology and expertise is required to map out and execute a data strategy that will empower organisations to make data-driven decisions around processes, best practices and customer experience.

This combination of data and context was typified during the event by the story of John Snow (no, not that one!) an English physician in the 1800s who developed the area of medical hygiene and epidemiology. Importantly, in the 1840s and 1850s, he:

• Gathered and aggregated data on cholera cases in London
• Visualised the results on a map
• Talked with residents to understand behaviour, explain outliers, and identify commonality

Source 

Sound familiar? This was referenced throughout the event as it is such a fitting example of a public health outcome improved by “technology” and domain knowledge or context. It is common practice now to review data in the way that John Snow pioneered, but how can it be elevated and progressed? How can these practices be improved to meet the growing demands for change and insight within NHS organisations?

In modern application, technologies like Power BI can be used by analysts to develop and create reports on specific data sets that can impact areas across NHS organisations. Furthermore, technology like Power BI which empowers analysts to self-serve, can reduce manual processes, save time and resources and generate insights into trends which may have never been achieved before within an organisation. Thus, setting the stage for not just technological change, but people and process change too.

So, it is clear that a combination of technology and tech skills, partnered with domain knowledge and expertise, will provide the context, expertise, and skills to deliver a real difference to the public sector and for public health.