Can systemic thinking reshape health services?

UK Systems Society conference in association with SPMC
University of Portsmouth

Run in conjunction with The 2018 European Conference on Information Systems.

June 25th, 2018

Book your place here.

Purchase accommodation by visiting this link.

Provision of health service is facing major challenges in every country. Life expectancy has increased, people are active for longer, and citizens expect first-class healthcare and for “repairs” to be done quickly to restore them to their full capacity. Some expectations are fantasy but others are justifiable, yet every day we hear or read about outcomes that give cause for concern.

In the UK we recognise that the NHS cannot continue in its present form. But the NHS is close to the heart of our citizens making major reforms difficult because of the intense passion that any discussion generates. But the NHS as a ‘system’ is more than 3/4 of a century old. The way that illness and old age are viewed now is different to that when the health service was created. This conference will provide a platform for ideas that might contribute to a way forward.

Papers are invited from members of any ‘discipline’ who think about a ‘situation of concern’ from a holistic perspective. Holism is used here where there is a recognition that unity of its parts are so close and intense as to be more than the sum of its parts i.e. “The whole is more than the sum of its parts”.

We would be delighted to see and hear from you at this conference.

Call for Papers

Papers are invited from members of any ‘discipline’ who think about a ‘situation of concern’ from a holistic perspective. Holism is used here where there is a recognition that unity of its parts are so close and intense as to be more than the sum of its parts i.e. “The whole is more than the sum of its parts”- the emergent property of the NHS is health care for all.

Papers are invited across the spectrum of intellectual pursuit including health care professions, disciplines allied to medicine, social care, health informatics, ICT specialists, economists, central or local government, politicians and systems thinkers and practitioners from any methodological tradition.

Relevant topics might include (but are not limited to):

• Analyses of challenges facing UK health service
• Approaches to restructure delivery of primary and secondary healthcare
• Boundaries of health care, social care, education and other human systems
• Relationship of health care to supporting services, e.g. ambulance, paramedic, community services, pharmacies
• Contributions that IS and/or ICTs can make to health care delivery
• Relationship between preventative and curative health provision
• Political and fiscal implications of changes (or non-change) to health provision
• Consideration of demographics in relation to the provision of services

Submission dates

Full papers – desired date is 8th Dec 2017
Acceptance 9th Feb 2018

Please send extended abstracts/papers to: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ukss2018 .

Selected papers will be considered for publication in the UKSS journal.

Conference committee:
Conference Chair: Professor Frank Stowell, President UKSS. Frank.Stowell@port.ac.uk
Programme Chair: Ian Roderick, MD Schumacher Institute ian@schumacher.org.uk
Conference Secretariat: Dr Christine Welch, Director SPMC ukss2018@spmc-associates.co.uk

Registration

Cost per delegate for this 1 Day* event including refreshments and lunch [but not including dinner] is £85.

Early registration is recommended. To book visit here.

*NB – University accommodation will be available for those delegates wishing to arrive early or who plan to remain after the UKSS event e.g. for the ECIS conference. But the accommodation should be booked separately through the university accommodation booking system. Purchase accommodation by visiting this link.

Conference supported by

• Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sui Sistemi (AIRS) – Italian Systems Society
• World Organisation of Systems and Cybernetics