Comparative Health Systems: Learning from the United Kingdom
 By: Anne Wojtak, SOG Communications Chair
This spring, HPME alumni, students and faculty had the opportunity to learn from two distinguished health-care leaders from the United Kingdom (UK). Sir Michael Rawlins, the chairman of the National Institute of Health & Clinical Excellence (NICE), was the keynote speaker at the May 4th Research Day; and Jim Easton, the national director for improvement and efficiency at the National Health Service (in England), was the keynote speaker (via Webcast) at the Society of Graduates (SOG) Education Day. Both speakers offered tremendous insight into what Ontario and Canada can learn from health-system transformation efforts in the UK.
Rawlins spoke about the ethics of health-care decision-making and the critical need for public engagement in key decisions related to resource allocation and prioritization of health-care needs. He also touched on the related issues of transparency and public sector accountability. NICE has created a citizen’s panel with public representatives representing the UK’s geographic, ethnic, social, and socio-economic diversity. Most remarkable in Rawlins’ presentation was how much his organization has learned about the gap between decision-makers and social/societal values through this process. It was an important lesson for many of us here as we embark on our own community engagement efforts.
Easton noted in his opening remarks that we are the generation of health-care leaders who stand on the brink of two necessary revolutions – a cost revolution and a quality revolution. Easton has been charged with taking £20 billion out of the NHS over the next few years, and he spoke about cost as an ethical issue in terms of reducing waste to enable sustainability of the system. “Mission Impossible or Possible: Can We Take $1 Billion out of Our Health-Care System and Improve Quality” was the theme of our Education Day, and Easton delivered a seven-point plan to reducing costs and improving health-care quality. His personal belief that we need to be intolerant of mediocrity was a theme throughout his talk. Easton’s presentation is available online.
Creating opportunities for Rawlins and Easton to share their insights and experiences is part of HPME and SOG’s share commitment to supporting continuing education and knowledge transfer for alumni, faculty, and students. We look forward to bringing you more opportunities for inspired learning.
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