Last week, over the course of two fantastic days hosting the Innovation Zone at NHS ConfedExpo 2024 in Manchester, we showcased some of the brightest innovators helping to tackle some of the NHS’ biggest challenges, met health and care teams looking for innovative solutions to their individual problems, and housed thought-provoking discussions on everything from what we actually mean by innovation, to whose job is it to innovate in the NHS.
As we close the doors on NHS ConfedExpo for another year, here are a few of our highlight moments from the event.
1. Our Innovator Showcase
22 brilliant innovators helping to tackle some of the NHS’ biggest challenges joined us on the stand to showcase their ideas. These included Florence (pictured), an app that connects healthcare organisations directly to health and care professionals and helps them fill their shifts instantly, PocDoc, a digital app-based cardiovascular (CVD) screening test that can be completed in 10 minutes either from home or in the community, and MySunrise, which supports patients and their families to navigate their cancer treatment pathway, but all of which have relied on thinking about pathways and not products to deliver impact for patients. Find out more about the innovators who joined us on the stand here.
2. Our speaker sessions
Our speaker sessions covered a great deal of thought-provoking topics, and were host to a range of our partners who shared their valuable insights on what makes innovation work, and how we can all do it better, together. Innovation really is a team sport.
3. Sharing the space with our partners
We were joined by our partners SBRI Healthcare, the Clinical Entrepreneurs Programme, the NHS Innovation Service, Life Sciences Hub Wales and the NHS Innovation Accelerator, and we also played host to a selection of this year’s NIA cohort, including Written Medicine and CardMedic.
4. Our Innovator Surgeries
Our Innovator Support team offered their advice and guidance to innovators live on the stand (pictured right), offering innovators the opportunity to get bespoke guidance on their most pressing challenges, and expert insights into how to make their great idea more relevant and ready for NHS adoption.
5. Recording new content with last year’s Innovate Awards Champion of Innovation Winner
We recorded some very special podcast interviews, including Network Chair, and Chief Executive of Health Innovation Yorkshire and Humber, Richard Stubbs (pictured below – right) in conversation with Steve Barnett (pictured below- left) from C2-AI – our 2023 Innovate Awards’ Innovation Champion of the Year. Sign up to our newsletter to be the first to know when they are released.
6. Our Networking reception, sponsored by KPMG
And finally, we brought all of our wonderful partners, colleagues and collaborators together at our Networking reception, to help create the connections and build the partnerships that might support more NHS innovation.
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