My father’s final days gave me a deep desire to improve healthcare and I am convinced the Prime Minister can deliver for the NHS
When I was 28 my father, who had a debilitating lung disease, suffered a heart attack. He had been clear that should the worst happen he didn’t want to be resuscitated. However, there was a terrible mix-up at the hospital and the doctors, who didn’t have access to that key information in his medical record, brought him back. He then spent four days in a coma on a life support machine until my mother and I made the difficult decision to let him go. While I don’t blame anyone for this mistake, it left a mark deep inside me to try and improve the way healthcare is delivered in this country.
This life-changing moment drove me to use the skills I was fortunate enough to have built up as a computer programmer to try and ensure what happened to my father didn’t happen to other people. That meant ensuring our dedicated doctors and nurses could better access and share patient information, for example, on their underlying conditions or allergies. I designed a programme that meant that GP practices in Bradford could share patients’ electronic records with their local hospital. This technology is now used in 25 different care settings from acute mental health trusts and palliative care homes to prisons and GP surgeries right across the country.
Historically, I have never been particularly interested in politics – I used to vote Green until I realised they wanted to close the M1! However, in Rishi Sunak I see someone who shares my passion for using technology to enable front line workers to spend more time treating patients and ultimately revolutionise the way healthcare is delivered in Britain. I believe he understands and values the NHS and wants to tackle some of its most pressing challenges.
As a businessman from Yorkshire I have been fortunate enough to have met the Prime Minister. He shares my passion for harnessing the data revolution to transform the way we as citizens access healthcare. Artificial Intelligence has the ability to collect, store and analyse patient data in a way that could revolutionise diagnostics, identifying for example whether someone is more at risk from cancer or dementia. Robotics can help minimise invasive procedures, meaning less trauma for patients and speeding up recovery times.