In recent years, the UK’s National Health Service has faced increasing pressure to manage growing patient demands. As waiting lists have yet to drop to a reasonable level and resources continue to suffer strains from multiple directions, the NHS has been handing over certain ‘smaller’ procedures to private hospitals – as one route towards tackling these challenges. As announced on Monday by Keir Starmer, one such solution is to collaborate even more closely with private hospitals, sending a greater number of procedures to these facilities and funding them through the NHS model.
One of the primary concerns for health care professionals responsible for the procedures that are handed over to alternative providers, is knowing the resulting figures for how many procedures are completed, once out of their usual hospitals, and being able to compare statistics across the whole region; both in NHS and Private spaces.
In theory, the majority of procedures should be comparable no matter where they are taking place.
However, when healthcare is delivered across multiple locations—public and private—it can become difficult to track and collect the statistics that make it possible to study and reflect on the choices made. This is where THRIVE comes in. THRIVE is a powerful yet simple tool designed to track procedure details in real time across all rooms in all hospitals, providing a centralised platform for oversight and reporting.
To have a true picture across regions, even Nationally, a tool like this should be embraced to ensure coordination between public and private healthcare providers while maintaining transparency and gaining insights in all locations. THRIVE keeps data collection simple – it’s about the procedure types, durations, and any issues encountered such as late starts and cancellations. These are the pieces of the big picture that will help the NHS measure productivity, assess gaps, and inspire changes informed by reality.
Procedures have been outsourced to private providers before this announcement, but if it is to be embraced as a solution to the waiting list difficulties then it should be approached with a certain degree of care – to maintain accountability.
Key Features of THRIVE:
Real-Time Tracking: THRIVE provides live time recording for procedures, allowing hospital staff, NHS managers, and other key stakeholders to monitor activity from remote locations.
Comprehensive Overview Reporting: One of the biggest advantages of THRIVE is its ability to aggregate data from multiple locations for higher level administrators. As more procedures move to private hospitals, this tool ensures that NHS managers can maintain visibility over comparable data, no matter where it is happening, and compare key statistics regardless of location.
Enhanced Decision-Making: With data available in real time and with detailed retrospective reporting, decision-makers reflect on actions taken, quickly see the impact of changes, and maintain a vital record of what’s actually happening at a National level per department.
As the NHS continues to work alongside private hospitals to address capacity issues, technology like THRIVE will be key to ensuring smooth collaboration. With its ability to track procedures across multiple locations in real time and provide comprehensive reporting, THRIVE offers the oversight necessary to maintain quality and efficiency in this new model of care. By utilizing innovative solutions, the NHS can continue to deliver exceptional patient outcomes—whether in a public or private setting.
