Our programme of Future of Care events explore the new frontiers of science and innovation set to transform health and care in the future. At these events, we bring together experts from across the world to discuss implications for the NHS and our local healthcare systems. The events examine the latest breakthroughs in technology and ground-breaking medical research.
Genomic science: now and future
In December 2019 our first Future of Care event addressed ‘genomic science: now and future’.
Genomic medicine has the potential to improve the quality of care by targeting treatment, maximising its benefits, and reducing side effects. The science of genomics is opening up better diagnoses for patients, better and safer treatments, opportunities for screening and further possibilities for prevention.
How could robotics and autonomous systems change frontline health and social care?
In January 2020 the second Future of Care explored ‘robotics and autonomous systems’.
Robotic technologies and autonomous systems provide very real opportunities to change the way we deliver frontline services across all aspects of health and social care. This could be through physical assistive robotics technology supporting rehabilitation, independent living or improve patient ability and comfort, or social robots enabling social interaction for people who are living alone.
But can robotics really fulfil all these needs? What are the challenges of implementation? And how will robotics impact the way staff work and the type of workforce we need?
How Covid will impact the future delivery of care
In December 2021 Future of Care event series got back underway with evening event at the University of West of England (UWE).
In the keynote address Professor Maggie Rae outlined some of the ways that she, as President of the Faculty of Public Heath, sees that Covid will have the greatest impact.
The impact on the health and care workforce has been profound, with overwhelming demand, continual reprioritisation and reorganisation and a reduction in capacity and resilience in the system. It’s unclear how long it will take for demand for services to normalise and the impact on staff will be felt for many years to come.
An audio recording of the event is available on SoundCloud here.
Watch the recording of the event here
How the use of augmented & virtual environments might impact health and care
On Tuesday 29 March 2022 we held our first hybrid event at the University of Gloucestershire. In this Future of Care distinguished address, Professor Shafi Ahmed will explore the impact virtual reality technologies might have on the delivery of health and care, and the training of professionals employed in these fields.
In April 2015, Professor Shafi Ahmed, performed the world’s first virtual reality (VR) operation, recording and streaming live in 360 degrees to more than 55,000 people across the world. In his presentation Shafi shared examples of how these technologies can be deployed, and discussed how we might re-imagine the way we deliver care, and train our workforce for the health and care challenges that we will face.
A video recording of the hybrid session is available here
The promise and perils of big data and artificial intelligence
On 22 September 2022 we partnered with the University of Bath and Stanford University to explore the use of big data and AI in clinical medicine and biomedical research to guide clinical decisions.
Dr David Scheinker, from Stanford University, used real-life clinical examples in particular the use of decision support software for glucose control for patients with type 1 diabetes.
The adoption and spread of these new technologies can be challenging and it is important to consider the support tools, and the operational and financial planning, that need to be in place.
