Thanks but no thanks, CareRooms. In the NHS we need staff, not beds | Rachel Clarke

Where do we even start with the Airbnbification of the NHS? Not only are there basic concerns about safety and accountability, it’s not even useful

• Rachel Clarke is a palliative care doctor

There’s only so much glumness a secretary of state for health can take. With Newsnight this week featuring harrowing footage of patients stacked up on trolleys in corridors in a Birmingham hospital, thank heavens, then, for the disruptive innovators. These tech-savvy go-getters see pound signs – sorry possibilities – where others only find doom and gloom, by promising patients nothing less than the Airbnbification of the NHS.

That’s right, if the startup CareRooms has its way, soon you too will be able to sleep soundly at night knowing that your granny has been safely discharged from her hip operation into the loving care of someone who clicked on a website, read its top line – “Earn £50 per room, per night as a host” – and couldn’t resist turning a spare room into cash. You just have to commend their entrepreneurial spirit. Some might say “patient safety disaster just waiting to happen”, but I say, get with the digital transformation, people.

With a little imagination and new fast food-style, drive-through operating theatres, imagine what the NHS could do?

Related: NHS may rent spare rooms to ease bed crisis

Continue reading... October 27, 2017 at 07:00PM