Daniel Hallen: Head of Digital Technology & Digital Urgent & Emergency Care for NHS England & Improvement North West
To give you a glimpse into the future of healthcare, our new series Healthcare Voices On Smart Technology Opportunities asks leading healthcare professionals to share their expert predictions.
In the first edition of this inspiring new series, we spoke with Daniel Hallen, Head of Digital Technology & Digital Urgent & Emergency Care for NHS England & Improvement North West about the challenges of technology adoption, social interaction and the fast-approaching revolution in self-care.
How is technology solving historic challenges within your department?
Developing technology has always looked to transform aspects of life, from the humble invention of the wheel, the invention of cotton spinning machines and the rise of the computer. For the NHS, technology is as fundamental as the lighting, buildings and healthcare we deliver. Tech enables patient records to be brought together into a single view to help decision making. It allows patients to manage conditions at home and in their lives. Over the course of 2020-1, virtual communication tech has enabled people to continue to access healthcare advice and consultations during a global pandemic; demonstrating how critical technology is to our environment.
What's preventing technology from being more widely adopted?
There are two principal aspects of technology that are barriers to wider adoption and things we must consider to ensure we don’t leave people behind.
Access to technology is a challenge. Technology isn’t cheap, and it can be a significant financial outlay for many people to invest in a laptop, computer or smart phone. Even if a person has access to some form of technology, then the difficulty is having the 3/4G and/or broadband internet access. In a 2020 State of the Nation report from Ofcom, some 190,000 premises across the UK don’t have access to internet either through fixed lines or mobile signal. For populations in rural communities such as Cumbria and Yorkshire Dales, this is a barrier which prevents adoption of digital. In the digital world we inhabit, the core infrastructure is so important.
Skills is by far the most important aspect that we need to get right. Digital literacy reports tell us that over 80% of the skills we need in the digital world are self-taught. As a society we make assumptions that young people understand digital and older generations don’t; and this is really not true. If we are to make sure that people can access technology and use it effectively, we need to equip them with the right skills and understanding.
Is there a specific argument you keep hearing from those who are late adopters?
If there is one hurdle to overcome in digital transformation; it is the desire to “boil the ocean”. Sometimes the task can be so immense, driven by the interconnected world we live in, with so many competing priorities that it’s a question of what is achievable in what order. That changes from organisation to organisation depending on many factors, but the key is to work with organisations to share learning and help reduce the burden.
Is tech healthcare replacing or fostering social interaction?
There has been much discussion on how technology is changing society, but as with any transformation or change; it replaces what went before. Social interactions are unlikely to change; but how we do them will. In just two decades, mobile phones have gone from being a phone to a smart device, with data usage far exceeding voice. The humble telephone box is replaced with wifi-hotspots; achieving the same end, but through a different means. Technology has helped connect people across the planet like never before. So no, I don’t think technology replaces social interaction; it changes the form but not the function.
Looking back, what do you think are the issues that were hard to manage 10 years ago that have been successfully solved by technology today?
This is a good question, with so many answers, but one highlight is that the importance of data and comprehension has really become a reality. As individuals, our lives create millions of pieces of data. Having the ability to use that data to predict trends, analyse population health and also have the accessible power to build data cubes; that’s come a long way. We can see real-time data as it’s happening, we can use technology to build models that can semi-accurately predict developments. With data and understanding, we can make decisions at all levels based on evidence and science. That’s how we change the world, that’s how we change ourselves.
What breakthrough technology do you think will be changing the NHS in the next 5-10 years?
Opening up technology to enable true self-care. The majority of patients live with life-long conditions every day, and most want to and can live with minimal intervention from their clinicians. In the NHS Digital Academy in 2019 and at Digital Health Rewired in early 2020, diabetic patients and clinicians were talking about accessing their data to help them make decisions about lifestyles. For example, if a diabetic can see real-time data about their condition, it can help inform them of dietary and exercise needs, not to mention good overall management of their health condition. I see this sort of technology growth as being fundamental; helping the individual make decisions about their healthcare, but also potentially other aspects of life.
Daniel Hallen
Head of Digital Technology & Digital Urgent & Emergency Care for NHS England & Improvement North West
Digital Transformation
