As part of Meridian’s long-standing relationship with the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), we were delighted to be invited to their flagship highly anticipated 2020 Annual Conference, this time being held over a virtual platform due to restrictions and guidance relating to COVID-19.

The title of the session was:
Crisis aversion in service capacity: a case study on improving diagnostic services and community mental health teams capacity levels without increasing cost

We had the honour of being joined by:

Matt Mallon, Radiology Manager, Northern Health and Social Care Trust

Petra Corr, Director of Mental Health, Disability & Community Wellbeing, Northern Health and Social Care Trust

David McMullan, Assistant Director of Finance, Northern Health and Social Care Trust.

The session was focused on the crisis in diagnostic capacity and the demand for mental health services running at epidemic levels and expected to increase further in light of COVID-19, and the work that Northern Health and Social Care Trust had done with Meridian to address some of these challenges.

From changing ways of working, increasing the availability of information and data to inform the right decisions and bringing about real changes in culture and behaviour, it was agreed that there are effective and powerful ways of addressing some of the challenges in the provision of healthcare, beyond spending more money.