Future events and driving forces

The initial stages of this project have involved developing a number of potential future events, driving forces and assumptions.

To date, 92 have been developed. They cover the full range of marco environmental categories: social, technology, economic, (natural) environment, political, legal (and regulatory). Issues addressed include what businesses hospitals might be in, the use of nanotechnology, personalised medicine, consumerism in healthcare and new players delivering new health services.

The range of issues is staggering and while many people will look at the full list and say, “yes, I’m not surprised this issue is addressed,” looking at them in one place illustrates perfectly the interconnectivity and complexity of the issue. And we’re not done yet!

I have just started an exercise to assess the potential impact and uncertainty of each event and driving force in the context of the two core questions I’m posing:

• How will the UK’s healthcare system manage the tension between the cost of care, the quality of care and the engagement of patients, carers and the public generally in 2030?
• What are the implications for providers and consumers of care over the next 20 years?

I’m also interested in assessing when the events will be most significant between now and 2030.

If you want to know more, you can contact me here or review the live roadmap now (MS Silverlight required). Click here. 

For more information about Sharpcloud, see http://www.sharpcloud.com/.