Big Data & Internet of things
Treat the problem Leo Craig, general manager of Riello UPS, outlines how a dose of data could be the perfect prescription to help the NHS tackle the country’s future healthcare needs.
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he National Health Service celebrates its 70th birthday this summer. But the muchloved institution, and the wider healthcare sector, are facing unprecedented pressures. One problem faced is a growing population where people live for longer, often with chronic conditions that require ongoing expensive treatment. Resources – both financial and the personnel needed to deliver care – are stretched. More than £120 billion is spent on the NHS every year, a budget that will top £123 billion by 2020. But our health service also treats a million patients every 36 hours, and around 18 million of us live with long-standing diseases. The only way the country can cope with these escalating demands is to embrace the
20 | June 2018
increased use of data, automation, and artificial intelligence (AI) to transform healthcare delivery. As a cradle-to-grave service, the NHS already has a valuable collection of data. Millions of people are now using wearable fitness trackers recording a wealth of information; add in the details captured from a whole host of other sensors or apps and the possibilities are enormous. Back in May, Prime Minister Theresa May pledged funding worth millions of pounds to develop AI that she believes will prevent 22,000 deaths a year from cancer by 2033. She stated, “The development of smart technologies to analyse great quantities of data quickly and with a higher degree of accuracy than is possible by human beings, gives us a new weapon in our armoury in the fight against disease.”
Of course, this emphasis on data requires additional storage and processing capacity, and healthcare already poses unique challenges for data centre managers. In an environment where a ‘mistake’ can mean the difference between life and death, security, safety, and ethical concerns need to be at the forefront of the data centre industry’s mind.
The (robot) doctor will see you Robotics in healthcare isn’t a new concept. The da Vinci Surgical System has been used in hospitals worldwide for years and assists in 200,000-plus operations a year. But the power of data and machine learning is now making its mark across all aspects of medicine.