The Daily Mail has report that the UK is ‘now short of 5,000 midwives’ as a result of NHS efficiency savings.
Retired obstetrician Lord Patel told ministers there is now a shortfall of 4,500 to 5,000 midwives in the United Kingdom with half of the workforce aged between 45 and 55. As a result, the drive to find £20 billion of efficiency savings in the NHS is threatening patient care as medical staff struggle to cope with frontline cuts, it was claimed.
Labour’s Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe added that cuts in nursing staff could have ‘disastrous consequences’ for patient care. She said: “Frontline nursing care is being severely threatened by the £20 billion efficiency savings target set for the NHS.”
This shortfall figure highlights the importance of making cuts in the right areas, without impacting on the service offered to patients – technology is a major way in which the NHS can meet efficiency targets set by the government. An example of technology that aids efficiency is digital dictation; the simple solution can increase productivity and save on costs through administration across the NHS.
Voice Technologies’ Clinical Document Production application, WinVoicePro, has been specifically designed to work at an administrative level, saving considerable time through the means of digital dictation and electronic transcription. By eliminating the need for analogue recordings, this enables healthcare targets and government budgets to be met through internal savings on typing, printing and distribution of patient letters.
For more information on the products Voice Technologies provide, please visit www.voicetechnologies.co.uk
