Irish doctor predicts big changes for medicine post-COVID emergency

 "We're not going to do it the old way anymore..."

Dr Johnny Walker is the founder of Jinga Life, which is a health solution platform for families. Speaking on this week's episode of JOE's business show, backed by AIB, All In, Walker outlined some of the changes that he foresees for general medicine in the wake of the Covid-19 emergency. "I think the cert from a medical point of view, we will never again care for patients the way we used to and that's a great thing," he told show host, Yvonne Redmond. "I think you'll see digital come in where we've now proved it can step up at relativity short notice and not only in the face of adversity but you'll see so much more efficiency where we're able to care for patients in a much safer, faster, more productive and more efficient way in the future, just by using handheld technologies and empowering patients in a way that they've never been empowered before. "You're really realising that the patient really is the centre of this and I think we're going to see a tsunami of consumer-led disruption where the consumers are going to say, 'No, we're not going to do it the old way anymore. We really want to be a part of this.'" Watch the show in full below: Walker, who specialises in interventional cardiology, also outlined a potential change to clinical settings that he hopes can be avoided.

"One thing I hope doesn't stay the same, as we are in this acute setting now, is the two metres of separation. I'm a very physical person, I'm a very personal person. I'm finding the two metres of separation, particularly even with my patients in the clinical setting. "But I live at the foot of the pier here in Dún Laoghaire and that two metres, it just seems like a massive distance to be separated. "I'm hoping that we'll be able to come back together because I think there's some real energy and real power about the physicality of proximity, just being close to each other. So, I hope that that comes back."

All In, backed by AIB, is available everywhere you get your podcasts and on YouTube

*Main feature is a stock image*