Health Care Systems, Structures and Functions

Hospitals are a significant element of the medical care setting and are the key to the reform procedures though they have gotten little interest from the investigators and important persons. They are essential since they are responsible for a considerable percentage of the medical care budget. Secondly, hospitals’ situation at the peak of the medical care setting shows that the plan of action they agree to, which measures their accessibility to professional health services, have a great influence on the entire medical care. Thirdly, the professionals who are employed within the health care system render quality leadership and services. Eventually, pharmaceutical and scientific improvements and more interest to evidence based practice, shows that the health care services, which the health facilities offer can probably contribute importantly to the modernization of the hospitals. In addition, hospitals have changed drastically for the last twenty years; both in the type of health services rendered and the responsibilities of the health care providers. Thus, this implies that the hospitals are well prepared for the purpose in the 21st century. Therefore, in this case, this paper will examine how well the hospitals are fit for the 21st century purpose by giving examples from a health care system background (McKee & Healy 2002, p.3).

Examination of known business issues for reconstructing, other improvements and techniques recommended by the medical authorities mean that there are several differences in the postulations created in approximately all features of prospect hospital stipulation. Regardless of the actual rising complexity of fulfilling the rising demand for medical care, several hospital strategies visualize considerable declines in the amount of beds, and hospitals having huge personal funding programme schemes anticipate declines of approximately 20-30 percent. However, whether all these can be verified depending with the prospect demands or degree of presentation is unclear (Edwards & Harrison 1999, p.1361).

Interest to hospitals is appropriate, because hospitals all over Europe are experiencing growing and drastic altering pressures. These involve the influence of alterations in people, illness’s patterns, chances for health implementation with innovative skills and technology, and political and communal anticipations. These alterations have significant effects on the way hospital health care is rendered, because modern and innovative forms of health care need modern shapes of constructions, individuals with various knowledge and modern methods of working. One effect is the importance of changing margin between the health facilities and primary care in which the health facilities are at times condemned because of their slowness to agree to and to receive benefits of improvements, which allow society-based substitutes (McKee & Healy 2002, p.4).

The health care system has changed for the last century decades due to political and communal alterations in the health or scientific technology. By the 15th century, several Arabic cities had minute health care facilities including hospitals and big health facility/hospital had been constructed in Cairo. Up to 15th century, several hospitals were minute and rarely gave appropriate health care services. A great period of European hospital construction started in the 13th century (McKee & Healy 2002, p. 14).

The main role of the hospital is to take care for the sick people. Patient care is the important feature of a suitable health care facility and can be classified in different sectors; outpatient, inpatient, accident and emergency, and rehabilitation departments. Different hospitals treat different types of patients depending on the type of the health care facility and the nation. Patient care in most of the hospital in the past was not adequate. For instance, in the Western Europe, the total numbers of beds were and are still less compared with the total number of admitted patient that is increasing drastically. This has led to most of the patient to be discharged before they are healed completely in order to create space for others. The total time of staying in the emergency care hospitals has reduced from 16.5 days in the year 1970 in the European Union to 8.6 days in the year 1996 and will still continue to decline in many countries. Though, the problems of hospital beds persist up to date, there are important alterations currently in most of the hospital that have improved patient care. These include quality surgery, radiology, maternal care, infant care, and endoscopy. However, bearing in mind that there has been such a great improvement within the health service setting, there is quality and satisfactory health care delivered to the patient. In addition, with the modern and innovative technologies and processes, patients are able to receive adequate services. Hence, there is currently good patient care within the health services system (McKee & Healy 2002, pp.60-61).

These alterations have significant effects to the health care systems and the quality of health services delivered to patients. Lesser period of stay and aging people shows that the individuals in the hospital beds are extremely sick and the probabilities increasing from modern scientific technology helps sick people to obtain extra multifaceted implementations. For instance, an individual admitted due to myocardial infarction in the western European health care facility in the year 1980 could only receive services such as bed rest and monitoring. Since patient care has increased by the 20th century, by now the same patient expect to receive emergency angioplasty and thrombolytic medication as extra services. The conventionally structure that the sick individuals go to a health facility directed by the professional is now allowing incorporated supervision of people having similar conditions. This is indicated or shown by the development of rationalized healthcare facilities that sick people having similar medical conditions like cervix cancer or pneumonia can receive full diagnostic and medication treatment at once (McKee & Healy 2002, pp.69-74).

With the utilization of the modern technological improvements, processes that were done manually are currently done automatically by use of machinery. Great medical technologies improvements have been formed or created in the past several years in prevention, diagnosis, medication and palliation by advancements in investigations, drugs, devices, clinical methods and equipment. More improvement have been observed in health care facilities and society support settings, permitting institutional creativity which alter the way health care facilities are utilized. Evolving knowledge can be classified into major classes where each has an impact of the medical care services in a different way. These technologies and procedures include screening knowledge where cell or blood testing is done to people of healthy individuals like the “micro-assay test kits” which give instant screening and diagnosis to the physician. Secondly, there are the drug technologies where innovative and modern drugs by utilizing biochemical, immunological and pharmacological knowledge have been formed in order to target the affected tissues or cells. Moreover, equipment used to administer drugs like the syringe devices that area controlled automatically by the machines permit the drug to be released slowly for along time (McKee & Healy 2002, p. 240).

Thirdly, there are the gene technologies or therapies where hereditary substance is introduced into the body artificially in order to substitute the damaged genes. There are also “laparoscopic and minimal-access surgical methods” which assist in shortening the admission period, quicker recuperation and minimised threshold for intercession, with subsequent rise in the total number of people treated. In addition, there are the organ transplantation technologies which utilize the immunological methods to lower the denial of the mankind and animal organs. Imaging knowledge and interventional radiology permits figure relocation between health care facilities and raises the utilization of actual period imaging through intercessional specialists for less-access and biopsy medication like vascular stenting. Other technologies include the telemedicine relations or links which involve actual period medical discussions between patients who are far away and a key physician, and information and figure relocation between health care facility and society settings. This technology permits common personnel to control chosen individuals under the hospital specialist management and permits secondary and tertiary health care facility quick admission to specialist advice. Finally, there is the specialized responsibility and institutional improvements. Extra professional teaching for health care providers allied to medicine allows evaluation and supervision of chosen persistent medical conditions in modern established society health care facilities (McKee & Healy 2002, p. 241).

Through the new technologies and procedures, new cases have been recognised which has increased the workload within the health care system especially if the new illness identified need quick attention. Though these technological improvements imply a minimised responsibility for emergency or acute health care facilities, other improvements in costly material or equipment might need multifaceted services particularly related to the hospitals. In addition, improvements in telemedicine and data technology have led to society-based services of monitoring persistent illnesses easier. In addition to the advancement in the nursing teaching, it has resulted to less utilization of the hospital outpatient equipment or facilities. Moreover, regarding to alleviative care, developments in nursing and paramedic teaching, drug prescription structure, health service systems and data and communication technologies have led to a wide variety of society-based health services for individuals suffering from terminal diseases (McKee & Healy 2002, pp. 243-244).

Consequently, medical technologies has had an impact where multifaceted surgical process preserved for people with critical signs and symptoms have been greatly substituted by simply persistent diagnostic endoscopy carried out on several individuals in day-case clinics. In addition, from a financial perspective, the hospital has ended up using large amount of money in order to train the health care providers on how to utilize and implement the new technologies and procedures (McKee & Healy 2002, p. 246).

With the drastic increase in the demands of health care services, more health care providers are required in order to meet these demands. However, rates of retention of non-medical employees or staff are affected by the rates of pay and the state of labour market. In addition, dissatisfaction with the national pay settlements has made several nurses to quit the NHS and have sought for recruitment. The radical alterations to medical teaching have had several effects for the hospital staffing systems. For one to be called a consultant doctor, the person has to undergo through some training in the United Kingdom in order to get a certificate of completion. Moreover, the specialist of the modern system suggested that effective deployment of medical employees could be motivated by maximising the skills of the midwives and nurses. Some of the services provided by the nurses include management of injuries which are minor (Dowie & Langman, 1999, p.1193).

Ambulatory care involves a wide variety of actions, involving people attending at outpatient health care facility and acute units, multifaceted medication like chemotherapy and daily surgery. Outpatient care has advanced since many individuals or patients are redirected from inpatient to outpatient unit and also due to the drastic rise of the demand of outpatient care and composite diagnosis and medication have been established. However, there is less research that has been conducted in the responsibility of ambulatory care in the medical care setting, like the percentage of the ambulatory care offered in various areas or on certain matters like the maximal supervision of the ambulatory care (McKee & Healy 2002, p. 61).

Similarly, ambulatory surgery has advanced with the improvements in acute surgical and anaesthesia methods and especially in minimal persistent surgery. This implies that most of the processes can be carried out without the need for all night admissions to the health care facilities. It is possible that the ambulatory surgery will persist to advance in most of the nations though there is the increase with the problem of beds in the hospitals and the probability for alteration is very minimal (McKee & Healy 2002, p. 62).

The rise in ambulatory care has disadvantages or effects for the health care shape and employment. The outpatient unit should be shaped in a way to support modern structures of incorporated care. Most significantly, these new technologies or structures of care need a high degree or management or organization having techniques of transporting the sick person through the health facility which posses much to airlines reservation structures than convectional lines or queues. These advancements provide the probability that modern types of ambulatory care like day/daily surgery, would be offered in a structure constructed for such purposes, which are isolated from the convectional health care facility (McKee & Healy 2002, p. 64).

Large quantity of modern pharmaceuticals will eliminate various illnesses, which are responsible for a big percentage of sick individuals who are recently admitted in the inpatient care for a long period. In addition, they will lower the occurrence of illness like atherosclerosis coronary artery especially stroke. Other pharmaceutical improvements will advance the performance of the stenotic arteries and the termination of the persistent thrombi. Biotechnology industries are establishing commodities which will promote, prevent, transform, or cure several types of cancers like lung cancer and breast cancer (Wilson 1999, p.1)

However, the probable influence of a modern revolution of preventive, promotive and therapeutic vaccines has not yet been identified within the health care setting. An efficient vaccine to remedy hepatitis C will alleviate persistent illness within the great risk categories and a main cause of illness like liver problem and hepatoma that need liver transplantation (Wilson 1999, p.1).

Minimal persistent surgery has changed several surgical processes. For instance, there is the heart surgery, which is done unconsciously by minute sized holes within the chest. Others that can be performed unconsciously include the coronary artery and cardiac surgery and the physician carrying out the processes does them while seated at a comfort next to the operating surface. Therefore, high surgery technology is becoming the rule for several operations and the health personnel, space need and resources for the processes will be as distinct as the new high tech (Wilson 1999, p.2).

The term fit for purpose in relation to the hospital modernization means that the health care systems by the 21st century are well prepared to handle or to offer quality health care. This is because the staffs are well trained, the healthcare systems have implemented new medical technology and new equipment or machinery have been improved or developed. In addition, there is large amount of incentives or money that has been directed into the health care system. For example in the Untied States the new health reform matters shows that the people in power are placing the health issues among the most priority issues in their developments. Moreover, the increased numbers of health care providers are in a position to fulfil the high demands in health service provision and management (Dowie & Langman, 1999, p.1193).

In conclusion, hospitals have changed drastically for the last twenty years; both in the type of health services rendered and the responsibilities of the health care providers. Thus, this implies that the hospitals are well prepared for the purpose in the 21st century. These changes have had a great impact on the health services provision. With the development or innovation of new technologies and procedures, the health care providers are in position to identify illnesses that could not be identified in the past. In addition, new drugs that have been developed have led to treatment of diseases like breast cancers. Moreover, these changes have made it possible for the health care providers to offer services to individuals with terminal illnesses while they are still in their homes since there are new technologies where the patient does not need to travel to the hospital for treatment. Therefore, hospital modernization or changes in the healthcare system has led to quality hearth service provision and, quality and long life.

Reference list

Dowie, R., & Langman, M., 1999. Staffing of hospitals: future needs future provision. The hospital of the future, 319: 1193-5.

Edwards, N., & Harrison, A., 1999. Planning hospitals with limited evidence: a research and policy problem. The hospital of the future, 319: 1361-3.

McKee, M., & Healy, J., 2002. Hospitals in a changing Europe. European Observalotory on Health Care Systems Series

Wilson, C., 1999. The Impact of medical technologies on the future of hospitals, 319: 1287.

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