A2.13 The potential impact of external factors on the activities of the healthcare sector

Qualification: T Level Technical Qualification in Health
Unit: Core
Learning outcome: A2: The healthcare sector
Assessment criteria: A2.13 The potential impact of external factors on the activities of the healthcare sector

• External factors can have an impact on the activities of the healthcare sector
• This has been observed most recently during the Covid19 pandemic, whereby capacity of the NHS was pushed to the limit
• Adverse weather conditions can lead to more people requiring healthcare services due to the weather (e.g. a heatwave can lead to more cases of dehydration, sunburn, sunstroke etc.)
• Changes to societal norms may lead to additional healthcare needs for populations (e.g. childhood obesity has been on the rise for many years)
• Disasters, such as floods, fires, wars and terrorist attacks may lead to more strain being put on the healthcare system – thankfully these are rare but it is important for healthcare organisations to have contingency plans in place in case they do occur
• Similarly, healthcare organisations should have contingency plans for if the infrastructure is damaged (e.g. hospitals often have backup generators in the event of power outages etc.)