The Health System

It has been said that being a patient in hospital could be likened to the experience of being drop kicked into a foreign country in your pyjamas.

You don’t know the language, you are generally without a map, you probably don’t know who is in charge and all you want to do is go home.

And on top of that you are probably sick.

Prior to coming into hospital you were likely to be busy going about your everyday life so now you are stressed about that as well.

If you weren’t sick when you were admitted to hospital you might also worry that you will be when you go home.

Health has become a complex system, so complex that much attention has been focused upon ‘the patient journey’ and how best to help patients find their way.

Unfortunately, at this point in time, the healthcare system seems to refute the principle that ‘all things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the best one.’

The current solution is for patient navigators to be employed to improve ‘the journey’ and assist and advocate on the patients’ behalf.

These navigators are employed under a variety of titles such as Care Manager, Care Coordinator, Liaison workers etc.

A personal view is that the journey analogy is well over used and I personally cringe when it is used in relation to anything other than a travel experience.