Blog: The consumer of healthcare

Matt Evans reflects on some early findings from the Grantham Joint Aches and Pains Hub 

I haven’t worked up the analogy yet but something happened in the hub project that made me think about shopping. In describing the event, people have used terms like 'market-place' and 'one-stop-shop' to help their colleagues understand what we did. Dr Rebecca O'Connor, working with us as an independent researcher, shared her initial observations (see below) of people walking into the space and seeing something very different to what they are used to and expect from NHS/Social Care services.

Years ago, William Morrison had a market stall and over time grew the business into what has now become one of the UK’s biggest supermarket chains. In the early days, Mr Morrison and his stall would have been part of a community of traders. You can imagine someone shouting “Get your apples” whilst someone else shouts about bread or meat. Customers would navigate that space looking for the best deals and sourcing the products that they needed. Traders would make the most of the opportunity to sell their products as there were very few options to have dialogue with customers.

Fast forward to today and Morrison’s now work closely with Amazon where customers don’t even need to leave their own house to get their groceries. With every ‘add to basket’ click comes a suggestion of items that you might also be interested in from virtual shelves all over the world. Supermarkets and consumer expectations have progressed but has our health and care system?

The Aches and Pains hub re-created some of that market-bizarre feel. 50% of the attendees had a pre-booked appointment, 50% did not. And whilst they all had their one reason to attend, they were encouraged into other discussions. The data suggests that the public had conversations with an average of 2.6 different providers in addition to seeing (and hearing) others. We created ‘add to basket’ moments.

We are going to unpick motivational factors for attending over the next few months but for now… The butcher, the baker and the candle-stick-maker will all see you now?!

Matt Evans is the Senior Change Manager for the Personalisation Team.