Damien

The new list of people being advised to shield is pretty interesting I think and possibly exciting.

They're talking about a new algorithm coming up with this list which suggests they've plugged in data about mortality, compared against their existing list of patients and come up with a much more tailored risk assessment than the broad category of groups we've used so far.

Politicians have talked about using big data, cloud and algorithms for years but it's usually just buzz words but this would be a very good example of what can be done with it and the NHS is in a unique position to take full advantage given its relative monolithic structure compared to other healthcare systems.

A constant real time dataset advising whose at risk for certain illnesses and which treatments might be most effective for someone based on much more precise details about any given person. Cancer screening brought forward not based simply on age, gender or race but multiple factors that suggest YOU might benefit from moving it a bit earlier.

All of this already exists of course but the speed at which it can now happen the degree of precision they could get into makes it very exciting.