That is exactly what McKinsey has organised. So no, they are not touring expensive facilities and inspecting "telemedicine". They are looking at the highest-ranked US organisations that are beginning to do integrated care across primary and secondary care, explicitly focussing on managing frail elderly patients. Mainly working in the Bronx, Baltimore etc. The US organisations are not selling their information, they are sharing the problems and working together as academic partners. It is not a junket, they have a fully-packed schedule, travel economy, are sharing bedrooms.
If you insist on using the Mail as your reference (always a risky strategy) then on Friday the Mail wrote that "Increasing delays in discharging patients from hospital is causing record levels of "bed-blocking" ...with over 96,000 bed days wasted." The knock-on effects of this, as well as the risks of keeping the elderly in hospital are surely obvious.
The idea that we all look after our elderly parents, and our children will look after us 24/7 is lovely, but completely unrealistic. This trip is not some Tory conspiracy to sell the NHS to evil American capitalists, brokered by McKinsey, but a genuine attempt by a group of doctors and managers to learn how to improve our services. And I very much hope they do improve it before I need it.
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