The Health Innovation Network is delighted to announce the launch of Innovation Insights, a brand-new webinar series designed to highlight the latest in health innovation, offering attendees valuable insights into the adoption and spread of innovation within the health and care landscape. Each interactive webinar will feature: Expert presentations: Delivered by thought leaders across [...]
The need for fast-paced innovation in healthcare is widely acknowledged. And ensuring that healthcare innovation is shaped by the people it serves remains a pressing priority – one made all the more evident by the growing emphasis on health equity in the 10 Year Health Plan. Patient voices are often cited as central to healthcare [...]
The government has set out three shifts it wants to see happen: treatment to prevention, hospital to community, analogue to digital. HealthTech has a crucial role in supporting the delivery of all three. But using technology to help deliver these changes requires procuring the technology, and when all the noise is about there being no [...]
Across England, innovation is improving cancer services and patient outcomes. Last week the government launched an open call for evidence to inform the National Cancer Plan. Innovation has a critical role to play in supporting the delivery of any National Cancer Plan, and delivering on the government’s three shifts. In order to realise the significant [...]
Innovation should be at the heart of the NHS 10 Year Plan. Delivering the three shifts and reducing waiting lists simply won’t be possible without innovation. At the Health Innovation Network, we are the innovation adoption experts. We’ll be offering expert advice and support to anyone with an interest in health innovation at this year’s [...]
Tackling health inequalities remains one of the greatest challenges facing the NHS and the wider health sector today. The Covid-19 pandemic exposed how deeply entrenched these disparities are, underscoring the urgent need for innovative and comprehensive approaches to address them. Advances in digital technologies, data analytics, workforce development, and community partnerships present a unique opportunity [...]
Earlier this month, Sir Keir Starmer outlined his vision for transforming the NHS, stating “we need an NHS hungry for innovation”. As a part of the Health Innovation Network, I welcome the new Government’s focus on transformation, having seen first-hand the huge productivity and patient benefit gains of many innovations associated with the three shifts: [...]
As the health and care industry increasingly embraces artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, it is crucial to ensure that these innovations are implemented with the utmost care and responsibility. Dr Hatim Abdulhussein, CEO at Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex, explores more in this blog. In the recent report from the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, [...]
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has outlined three strategic shifts for the NHS: transitioning from analogue to digital, moving care from hospitals to communities, and prioritising prevention over treatment. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) presents a significant opportunity to drive these changes, benefiting both public health and the economy. CVD is arguably the big-ticket item for delivering on [...]
We are delighted to publish the Innovation for Healthcare Inequalities Programme (InHIP) impact and learning report. NHS England’s InHIP programme is a collaboration between the Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC), NHS England’s National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme and the Health Innovation Network, delivered in partnership with integrated care systems (ICSs). It aims to address local healthcare [...]
Download our Impact Report In 2023-24, as a Network, we delivered national programmes and initiatives that benefitted over 1,228,000 patients, created wealth and health by leveraging £467m through our support to innovators, and worked alongside health and care teams to tackle some of the NHS’s most pressing challenges including cardiovascular disease, patient safety and [...]
We are delighted to welcome Dr Dominique Allwood as the new Chief Executive Officer for Imperial College Health Partners (ICHP). Dominique joins ICHP from neighbouring health innovation network UCLPartners, where she is currently Chief Medical Officer. Her focus is on clinical engagement across the partnership and with the Health Innovation Network Clinical Executives in her [...]
The Health Innovation Network welcomes the Innovation Ecosystem Programme (IEP) recommendations, published today (28 November 2024). Achieving greater impact and value from faster and more extensive adoption of health innovation is critical to delivering the three shifts articulated by Government and expected to be emphasised in the 10 year plan; analogue to digital, hospital to [...]
Congratulations to Health Innovation East who won the Digitising Patient Care Award at the 2024 Health Service Journal (HSJ) Awards. Health Innovation East and East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) were crowned winners of the award for their work supporting the adoption of Neu Health’s app which is revolutionising care for patients [...]
Angie Doshani, is founder of JanamApp and Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. JanamApp is a ground-breaking solution addressing the disparities in pregnancy outcomes faced by South Asian women, who experience a 1.8 times higher risk compared to their white counterparts. The challenges of some women from this demographic include [...]
Lesley Bull, a South London GP and our 1000th delegate chats to Lois-Hooper Ainsworth, Programme Coordinator on the National Polypharmacy Programme, about why she registered for the Health Innovation Network Polypharmacy Action Learning Set, what she got out of it and why other GPs should attend. Lesley Bull So, Lesley, could you tell [...]
A range of NHS-branded patient information materials launched last year by the Health Innovation Network to support and prepare people who have been invited for a Structured Medication Review with their GP, pharmacist or other healthcare professional, have been found to empower patients and improve the quality of consultations. Developed in partnership with patients, Leeds [...]
Jo Barosa is Account Director at Qbtech UK. Qbtech is a market leading provider of innovative objective tests for assessing and treating ADHD, changing the landscape of ADHD care. Driven by its mission to improve the lives of people with ADHD, Qbtech supports by providing digital and clinical solutions to improve clinical decision making, service [...]
Health Innovation Manchester has today (14 October 2024) announced a groundbreaking strategic partnership with Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) to initiate a five-year real-world evidence study (SURMOUNT-REAL UK), subject to relevant approvals. The announcement has been made as part of a collaboration agreed between Lilly and UK Government today, unveiled at the Government’s International Investment [...]
In support of ADHD awareness month this October, the Health Innvovation Network is highlighting the impact of the innovation QbTest – an objective assessment tool to assist in the diagnosis of ADHD. Three quarters of all NHS trusts that provide ADHD services have adopted the innovation and since April 2020, more than 77,000 children and [...]
The challenges the NHS and social care sector are facing, laid bare by the Darzi report, have led to widespread acceptance that change is needed across the NHS to better care for patients, support the NHS workforce and drive economic growth. The new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care stated it is now [...]
Dr Cheryl Crocker, interim Chief Operating Officer at the Health Innovation Network, explains the vital role innovation plays to not only reduce waiting lists and improve access to care, but to decrease system pressure by improving people’s health and keeping them well for longer. The new Government has rightly declared its focus on moving the [...]
Launched in 2014, SiSU Health is scaling early warning, self-service health kiosks, digital platforms and pathways into pre-existing healthcare services. The British Heart Foundation estimates the annual cardiovascular disease (CVD) related costs to the UK healthcare system are around £10 billion, with annual costs to the UK economy of an estimated £25 billion. Making the [...]
Rebecca Howard is a psychotherapist and Founder and CEO of ShinyMind, an award-winning digital wellbeing prescription and prescribing platform. ShinyMind offers large-scale mental health virtual group consultations, designed to reduce workload and widen access in primary care, helping over 100 patients simultaneously think better, feel better and live better. Tell us about the innovation. What [...]
You can find out more here about the collective impact of this work and how a focus on patient safety can not only reduce avoidable harm, but can also reduce demand and improve NHS productivity. Laura Rooney Health Innovation Manchester is currently working on an Innovate UK funded ‘Health Innovation Accelerator’ - [...]
NHS Confederation and the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) have launched guidance ‘Accelerating transformation: how to develop effective NHS-industry partnerships.’ Warmly welcomed by Health Innovation Network, it explores how collaboration and partnership can support the delivery of NHS priorities and enable the ‘triple win’ of improved patient outcomes, more efficient use of NHS resources [...]
World Patient Safety Day on Tuesday 17 September, organised by the World Health Organisation, seeks to raise awareness and promote collaboration between patients, health workers, policymakers and health care leaders to improve patient safety. This year, “Improving diagnosis for patient safety”, seeks to emphasise the critical importance of correct and timely diagnosis in ensuring a patient’s [...]
The Chair of the Health Innovation Network has responded to Lord Darzi’s Independent Investigation of the NHS in England. Richard Stubbs, Chair of the Health Innovation Network, said: “This report identifies and recognises the challenging context that the NHS workforce operates in day in, day out. It exposes some of the difficulties that patients experience [...]
Pete Waddingham, the Health Innovation Network's Net Zero Lead, discusses how we're supporting a Net Zero NHS through innovation, and its potential to reduce demand. We all know climate change contributes to poor health, with air pollution linked to a number of health conditions including cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and cancer. We also know it’s [...]
Join us on 24 and 25 September at HETT Show London 2024 to find out how the Health Innovation Network can support your innovation to go further, faster. Here’s what we’ll be offering on our stand: Advice from our experts Experts from across the 15 local Health Innovation Networks will be on hand at the [...]
We are delighted that two Health Innovation Networks have been shortlisted in the 2024 Health Service Journal (HSJ) Awards. This is in addition to the two networks that were shortlisted in the Health Service Journal (HSJ) Patient Safety Awards earlier this year. The awards shine a light on the outstanding efforts and achievements that teams [...]
Karina Malhotra (pictured on the right) is the Founder and Managing Director of Acumentice - a healthcare improvement consultancy. Karina’s background is in the NHS, with operational leadership roles in NHS Trusts across London. Her product, Evolve Learning, provides targeted learning and development for staff in the NHS. It’s delivered on an e-learning platform, in [...]
As a Network, we are committed to supporting the transformation of care pathways through adopting and scaling innovations equitably, ensuring that no one is excluded when trying to access services and/or suffers poorer clinical outcomes as a result of innovation. We align our programmes to NHS England’s Core20PLUS5 framework and prioritise supporting innovations that [...]
At the Health Innovation Network we have always had a dual focus on improving both the health and wealth of the nation and have demonstrated the huge contribution that the health and life sciences industry can make to economic growth. Since 2018, our support to innovators has leveraged £2.6 billion for the UK economy. We're [...]
Across England we’re supporting local systems to implement Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions that are improving productivity and efficiency – whether that’s through releasing clinician time, improving patient care or reducing waiting lists. We asked our Clinical Directors from across the Network to share their insights into what they believe the opportunities and risks of AI [...]
There is a wealth of HealthTech innovators poised to help solve some of the NHS’ greatest challenges, yet getting a product or new technology adopted at scale in the NHS is far from straightforward. In a recent ABHI member’s survey*, procurement was cited as one of the biggest barriers that innovators face, particularly those from [...]
Ambitious innovation is a team game and, as a Network, our best work has been delivered in partnership with a coalition of expertise from across the innovation ecosystem. One such partnership, is our collaborative working agreement with the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE). We both want to see the most clinically and [...]
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 [...]
Join us in Manchester on the 12 and 13 June to learn about the latest advancements in healthcare innovation and find out how you can get support with your local innovation needs from experts across the Health Innovation Network. Meet the innovators and our partners Come and find out about some of the brilliant innovators [...]
Experts from the Health Innovation Network will be on hand at NHS ConfedExpo to provide advice and support for anyone looking to understand more about how to develop, build, and scale innovations within the NHS. Whether you work in the NHS and have a challenge which you need help to solve, or are an innovator [...]
On Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13 June we are hosting the NHS ConfedExpo at Manchester Central, where we will be joined by a host of Network-supported innovators. Find out more about some of the innovators who will be presenting on the stand: The Virtual Hippo A virtual reality 10-minute experience, co-created by the University of [...]
Tellmi is a social enterprise innovation which aims to address the growing demand for mental health services and tackle health inequalities for young people. It is a digital peer support app available launched in 2017 by psychologist Suzi Godson PhD and engineer Kerstyn Comley PhD. Kersytn explains how Tellmi works. Tell us about the innovation. [...]
The NHS is facing record demand for services. According to The Health Foundation, the NHS waiting list for elective treatment in England has almost tripled in size over the last decade to 7.7 million. And latest figures show there were a record 2.35 million attendances at A&E across England in March this year. We know [...]
The NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) has revealed its 2024 cohort of Fellows. The group of innovators represents a diverse range of health and social care solutions poised to revolutionise patient care and drive positive change across the NHS and wider healthcare landscape. The NIA is an award-winning NHS England initiative, working to support NHS Long [...]
The work of three local health innovation networks has been celebrated at the 2024 Health Service Journal (HSJ) Partnership awards. The annual awards ceremony recognises the most effective collaborations in healthcare, with partnership working hailed as a key success factor in the sustainability for the future of the NHS. Health Innovation West of England [...]
“Health equity is the attainment of the highest level of health for ALL people. Achieving health equity requires valuing everyone equally with focused and ongoing societal efforts to address avoidable inequalities, historical and contemporary injustices, and social determinants of health — and to eliminate disparities in health and health care.” (health.gov) Within the NHS there [...]
In recent years, a spotlight has been shone on the health gender gap. Although women in the UK on average live longer than men, women spend a significantly greater proportion of their lives in ill health and disability when compared with men*. Women are routinely underrepresented in clinical trials, and medical research proposed by women for women [...]
The Health Innovation Network is passionate about the role of innovation in tackling health inequalities. These disparities, which are deeply rooted in factors like employment, ethnicity, locality, gender, disability, and housing, continue to hinder equitable access to healthcare and impact life expectancy. Digital solutions have the power to bridge gaps in health inequality. We’re proud [...]
The role of health innovation in tackling health inequalities will be the focus for the Health Innovation Network at this year’s Healthcare Excellence Through Technology (HETT) North 2024. HETT North 2024, held at Manchester Central on Wednesday 28 February, will explore the systems and infrastructure that underpin and enable a data-driven NHS, supporting the ecosystem [...]
SBRI Healthcare, an Accelerated Access Collaborative initiative, in partnership with the Health Innovation Network, has awarded £2.5m to five innovative companies helping to narrow inequalities in maternity care, including Latchaid and The Real Birth Company. Latchaid, an innovator supported by Health Innovation West of England, received £500,000 for Anya, a smart, scalable, and accessible solution for [...]
Professor Gary Ford Chair of the AHSN Network and Chief Executive of Oxford AHSN The AHSN Network has an extensive history in working to tackle the major cardiovascular risk conditions that if untreated can lead to heart attacks, strokes and other adverse cardiovascular events. Since 2015, all 15 AHSNs have supported work on the detection [...]
Meet Judith Clarkson, Commercial Director of MyPathway (previously ADI Health), which is now part of VitalHub UK. MyPathway is a digital health platform that is used to improve patient interactions during treatment for long term conditions as well as those individuals visiting acute facilities for shorter term elective or outpatient services. Hear what Judith has [...]
Dr Yu (Maggie) Fu, formerly a joint Senior Research Fellow, working jointly between the Applied Research Collaboration and AHSN for the North East and North Cumbria, and now a Tenure Track Fellow based at the University of Liverpool. I studied medicine at university and became a junior doctor in 2010, but I was frequently struck by [...]
More patients are set to benefit from faster and more accurate testing for asthma thanks to a new collaboration between the AHSN Network and NIOX®. Asthma is a common health condition, affecting more than 5.4 million people in the UK and resulting in 60,000 hospital admissions each year. It has a significant impact on the [...]
The AHSN Network PReCePT National Programme to increase the use of magnesium sulfate, a £1 injection that helps prevent cerebral palsy in premature babies, is effective according to a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funded evaluation. The findings, led by researchers at the University of Bristol, are published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. [...]
Regions report successful spread of pre-term optimisation bundle which is improving care for babies Patient safety teams facilitating learning between clinical teams across the country Patient safety improvements seen in key pre-term birth optimisation areas including cord management and antenatal steroids Patient safety collaboratives (PSCs) are supporting the scaling up and spread of the Maternity [...]
For innovation to be successful it must be developed in collaboration with those set to use or benefit from it. Involvement and co-production with people, public, carers, and communities is a growing and thriving agenda across the AHSN Network, and is even more important than it has ever been, given the experiences of the COVID-19 [...]
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had a significant and continued operational impact upon England’s health and care system. In parallel, we’ve observed innovation and transformation of services at an unprecedented pace and scale, with the adoption of digital technologies being a key feature. This innovation and transformation has, in the main, been brought about by [...]
Meet Mark Ratnarajah and Steve Barnett of C2-Ai. The company helps hospitals to significantly improve patient safety, reduce mortality and complication risk and clinical outcomes variation by providing globally unique AI-backed insights. Read what they have to say on how the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has shaped their work, their advice for budding innovators and how [...]
2022 has been a busy year for the AHSN Network as we continue to work to identify and spread health innovation at pace and scale across the NHS. The past 12 months have seen the health and care system continue to respond to the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and across the network, we [...]
In 2021-22 the NHS managed 19.6 million hospital admissions, appointments, and attendances across England (NHS Digital 2022). During the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, reducing hospital admissions was a key focus area to increase hospital capacity and reduce the spread of the virus, with a target to free up 30,000 beds announced in March 2020 (NHS Trusts [...]
Understanding the data webinars: 24 January and 16 March, 12-1:30pm As part of the Polypharmacy: getting the balance right programme hosted by the AHSN Network and NHS Business Services Authority (BSA), two webinars are taking place to consider how best to understand and utilise available medicines data. The programme aims to support local systems and [...]
SBRI Healthcare has awarded over £1.8 million for the development of 20 innovations that help narrow inequalities in maternity care and autism and learning difficulties as part of its ‘Competition 20 Health Inequalities’ initiative. SBRI Healthcare is an Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) initiative – a partnership between patient groups, government bodies, industry and the NHS [...]
The Digital North accelerator programme is a collaborative enterprise established by the four northern AHSNs: Yorkshire & Humber AHSN, Health Innovation Manchester, Innovation Agency (AHSN for the North West Coast) and AHSN North East and North Cumbria. It aims to support regional digital health technology firms in the adoption and spread of proven innovations within [...]
We’re proud to announce that two AHSNs have won and received highly commended at last night’s HSJ Awards ceremony (17 November 2022), which celebrates success and excellence in healthcare across the NHS. Three further AHSNs were nominated for the prestigious awards. Imperial College Health Partners (ICHP) won the Digitising Patient Care award for its work [...]
As leaders from across the globe come together for the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), I wanted to share the progress of the network in supporting this crucial agenda, and the help on offer. Our strategy At a national level, we’re currently refining our Net Zero Strategy which sets our key aims and [...]
It is an unacceptable fact that black and Asian women and people who give birth are more likely than those who are white to die during birth or the following year. More specifically, black women are four times more likely to die during pregnancy or postnatally than white women. In comparison, Asian women are twice [...]
Meet Andy Minnion, Founder and Director of RIX Research & Media. RIX Research & Media has created the RIX Wiki, a software that enables people with learning disabilities to share personal health and care information for effective person-centred support in their communities. Read what Andy has to say on working directly with people who benefit [...]
To mark ADHD Awareness Month new figures are being shared showing almost 75,000 people (aged 6-18 years) have received an objective assessment for ADHD over the last five years since Academic Health Science Networks began to support a new digital innovation, QbTest. The innovation has improved patient experience and patients require fewer appointments before being [...]
In this blog, East Midlands AHSN (EMAHSN) Managing Director Nicole McGlennon discusses the considerations of embedding change, how can healthcare systems create the conditions for healthcare innovation adoption and identifies five key areas NHS systems can consider. In recognition of October also being ADHD awareness month, Nicole refers to our Focus ADHD project and how [...]
In 2021, the Network published its new five-year strategy, as a collective group of AHSNs. It sets out how we will achieve our purpose, to transform lives through innovation through three strategic aims: Strategic Aim 1: Develop outcomes-led programmes that respond to health and care priorities. Strategic Aim 2: Build a high-impact national innovation pipeline. Strategic Aim [...]
The AHSN Network has been announced as a Founding Collaborator of The Sustainable Medicines Partnership (SMP), a not-for-profit, global collaboration which undertakes projects to make the use of medicines more sustainable and less wasteful. The partnership includes leading pharma, generic and retail medicines manufacturers, distributors, supply chain, technology providers, healthcare, hospitals, pharmacy, researchers, academia, policymakers [...]
7 October 2022 We had originally intended to publish the AHSN Network’s independent review into the systems and processes that led to the adoption of SIM as a national programme during September, to coincide with the anticipated publication of NHS England’s report on SIM. This has not yet been published. We will publish the Network [...]
Meet Kathy Abernethy, Director of Menopause Services at Peppy. Peppy is an app that gives people access to remote, specialist advice and support in areas such as mental wellbeing, menopause, parenthood and fertility. Read what Kathy has to say on measuring clinical outcomes, finding the right people to work with and the value of hearing [...]
A new AHSN Network programme which aims to improve lower limb wound care for patients has announced its first pilot sites. The AHSN Network’s Transforming Wound Care new national spread and adoption programme aims to ensure all patients with lower limb wounds receive evidence-based care which leads to: faster healing of wounds improved quality of [...]
The inaugural winners have been named in the new awards from the AHSN Network and NHS Confederation, following an award ceremony attended by almost 400 NHS leaders, innovators and partners. Technology thought-leader and Countdown arithmetician Anne-Marie Imafidon, hosted the ceremony, which provided a fantastic celebration of excellence in health and care transformation. With more [...]
A new practical guide for innovators developing Real-World Evaluation (RWE) projects has been published by The AHSN Network. The newly published guide is now available on the AHSN Network website, ‘Real-World Evaluation to facilitate adoption at scale: a practical guide for innovators’. This simple guide will support innovators in gathering real-world evidence to support scale [...]
What exactly is Real World Evaluation? What does it cover? How will it benefit my business? These are questions my colleagues and I across the AHSN network are asked regularly by health and care innovators looking to encourage the adoption and spread of their innovation. Generating evidence to support the clinical efficacy and cost effectiveness [...]
The AHSN Network’s real-world evaluation programme aims to help innovators work with adopting organisations to secure the rapid rollout of new products. The AHSN Network aims to ensure that innovators perform high-quality, relevant real-world evaluations that: demonstrate the value of a new product in real-world settings (outside of a controlled research environment) help organisations to [...]
It was World Patient Safety Day on Saturday 17 September, and this year the World Health Organisation (WHO) is focusing on medication safety. This is a welcome theme for the AHSN Network and the Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) we host as improving medication safety is a key objective in our Patient Safety Plan, which we [...]
Kathy Scott is the Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive at Yorkshire and Humber AHSN. She also acts as Chair for the AHSN Network Environmental Sustainability Community of Interest. Sarah Walpole is the 2021-2022 National Medical Director’s Clinical Fellow at NICE. In this blog, Kathy and Sarah discuss how important it is to consider [...]
We’re pleased to be exhibiting at the Health Excellence Through Technology (HETT) show on 27 and 28 September 2022, at the ExCeL London. Come and see us at our exhibition stand (number E58) where you can speak to AHSN colleagues and partners; find out more about the AHSNs and how to access support; and meet [...]
A series of educational resources have been produced in a collaboration with patients and between the AHSN Network, Health Education England eLearning for healthcare (HEE elfh), the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the Royal College of Surgeons of England, to increase awareness of breast cancer prevention, for both patients and clinicians, by improving [...]
Meet Caroline Gadd, UK Managing Director for Holmusk and NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) fellow for MaST, a decision support tool which uses data from electronic health records to improve health and care decisions. Read what Caroline has to say about the support received from AHSNs, building an effective and efficient product delivery team and benefitting [...]
The NHS Innovation Service has been developed to accelerate the uptake of promising and impactful innovations into the NHS. Coordinated by the NHS Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC), the service aims to support the UK’s Life Science’s Vision to bring life-changing innovations to patients more quickly. The online service for healthcare innovators aims to provide the [...]
Meet Elliott Engers, CEO and Co-Founder of Infinity Health. Infinity Health is a digital platform on which health and care staff can log, share and coordinate their daily care tasks in real-time. Read what Elliott has to say about helping to reduce the NHS backlog, the joys of going live and how the AHSNs are [...]
The AHSN Network has collaborated with Boehringer Ingelheim and the University of Plymouth to develop the first of its kind, evidence-based guide to support digital health tech innovators to conduct meaningful patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE). The guide, which is built on extensive patient input, as well as insights from system leaders, innovators [...]
The AHSN Network recently launched the new national polypharmacy programme: getting the balance right. Hear Programme Manager, Amy Semple and Clinical Lead, Clare Howard discuss why we need to take action to address problematic polypharmacy and how the AHSN Network is supporting this important area of work. Why is polypharmacy an important topic? Polypharmacy is [...]
Meet Dr Richard Hixson, Consultant in Anaesthesia and Critical Care Medicine at Country Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust and Designer of CPDmatch. CPDmatch proactively matches the professional development needs of all healthcare professionals with relevant, accessible and affordable educational opportunities. Read what Richard has to say about support from AHSNs, taking the first step [...]
The AHSN Network is helping to tackle system-wide challenges relating to polypharmacy with the launch of a new national medicines programme, commissioned by NHS England. Polypharmacy simply means ‘many medicines’. Medicines benefit billions of people around the world and appropriate polypharmacy can extend life expectancy and improve quality of life. However it can also be [...]
Working with Boehringer Ingelheim, and the University of Plymouth, the AHSN Network has launched a new evidence-based guide to support digital health innovators and leaders to conduct meaningful patient and public involvement and engagement. The new user-friendly guide, entitled ‘How to involve and engage patients in digital health tech innovation’ has combined the results of [...]
A joint webinar and Q&A hosted by the Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI) and the AHSN Network has highlighted the support on offer from Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) for innovators, at all stages of development. The webinar, held on 30 June 2022, was hosted by Richard Phillips, Director of Strategy at ABHI, and [...]
The AHSN Network hosted a buzzing Innovation Zone at ConfedExpo 2022 on 15-16 June. Thousands of people attended this year’s event, held at the ACC in Liverpool, which gave delegates an opportunity to network, spread learning, encourage innovation and inspire change at all levels across the system. The conference consisted of several [...]
Richard Phillips, Director of Strategy at the Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI) reflects on his experiences with the AHSN Network and how AHSNs support innovation in the life sciences sector. ABHI hosted a webinar for innovators with the AHSN Network on Thursday 30 June, 11-12am, click on the link below to watch the recording. [...]
More than 286,000 people were supported at home through technology-enabled remote monitoring in 2021/22, with rapid enablement and scaling of this support spearheaded by the National Innovation Collaborative for digital health. Led by Health Innovation Manchester (HInM) on behalf of the AHSN Network, the collaborative is a learning and support system for professionals involved in [...]
In this blog, Laura Semple AHSN Network Director for National Programmes reflects on the challenges faced by the health and care system over the last year; the impacts and benefits of the innovation programmes delivered nationally by the AHSNs; and discusses why she is particularly excited about the year ahead. The mission of the AHSN [...]
2021-22 has been pivotal for the AHSNs and the AHSN Network. While we are still supporting our health and care systems with the recovery from the pandemic, we have undertaken work to set out our vision and strategy and refine our processes to ensure we can meet our collective ambition to transform as many lives [...]
We’ve recently released our AHSN Network impact report, reflecting on our national work from April 2021 to the end of March this year. This report covers the impacts of our core work programmes, including more than 480,000 patients benefiting from our national programmes and initiatives; and our support for innovators resulting in £455m of investment [...]
In this blog, Stuart Monk AHSN Network National Programme Director for Rapid Uptake Products and the MedTech Funding Mandate reflects on why achieving the greatest spread of health and care innovation is personally important to him and discusses some of the progress and impacts he’s seen over the last year. I’ve worked within the AHSN [...]
The AHSN Network is making great strides in delivering the objectives set out in the NHS Patient Safety Strategy. It has released a midpoint update to its patient safety plan, which shows the positive impact being made across focus areas including maternity and neonatal care, mental health, and care homes. The Patient safety in partnership. [...]
No one would deny that the last couple of years have been immeasurably difficult for those working in the health and care sector. Finding capacity to innovate has been an enormous ask of frontline colleagues tackling the fallout from the Coronavirus pandemic. That is why I am both astounded and delighted to see the results [...]
A note from our Chair 2021-22 has been pivotal for the AHSNs and the AHSN Network. While we are still supporting our health and care systems with the recovery from the pandemic, we have undertaken work to set out our vision and strategy and refine our processes to ensure we can meet our collective ambition [...]
Over the last year1, £455 million of investment has been leveraged and more than 1,800 jobs have been either created or protected as a result of the unique service offering of the AHSN Network. Economic growth figures have been released as part of our 21-22 AHSN Network Impact Report, which looks at the collective impact [...]
A new report reveals that the AHSN Network has benefited more than 480,000 patients and attracted £455 million of investment for the UK economy between April 2021-end of March 2022. The AHSN Network has released its Impact Report for 2021-22. The report summarises work undertaken by England’s 15 AHSNs on national initiatives and areas of [...]
A spotlight on inequality In 2019 when launching our first report on the importance of ensuring greater diversity in health innovation design and implementation, I wrote that: “Our NHS should represent and reflect the communities we serve. This does not just apply to our front-line workforce. The way that we develop and adopt innovation and [...]
With more LGBT+ high-profile role models, diversity groups in the workplaces, and education in schools, you’d be forgiven for thinking that LGBT+ communities no longer face issues. This isn’t the case – they still face significant barriers with stigma, discrimination, harassment and bullying, and with their health. The LGBT+ community is disproportionately affected by ill [...]
Meet Keith Chessell, Chief Executive of Whzan Digital Health. Whzan Digital Health produce clinically lead healthcare monitoring systems which aim to enable greater levels of care and help keep people out of hospital. Read what Keith has to say about how AHSNs have provided support in finding the right people to talk to, helping people [...]
A note from our Vice Chair In 2019, the AHSN Network made key pledges to demonstrate our commitment to diversity and innovation. Our pledges, adopted by all 15 AHSNs, have guided us to embed diversity and inclusion in all aspects of our organisations and our work. I promised in our first report to tell the [...]
The Academic Health Science Network (AHSN Network) and Health Education England have published a report focusing on how patients and families are supported around the time of death, and examples of good practice from healthcare organisations across England. Learning from staff reflections: supporting people at end of life is the result of a project commissioned [...]
Meet Lee Omar, Founder of Safe Steps. Safe Steps is a user-friendly falls risk screening, review and care planning tool which supports health and social care organisations to become self-sufficient in falls prevention. Read what he has to say about the personal background to his innovation, understanding the NHS as an entrepreneur and how the [...]
People with learning disabilities face significant health inequalities. NHS Digital reported that those with learning disabilities would be between 3.9-4.2 times more likely to die than those with broadly the same characteristics in the general population, the NHS Long Term Plan also recognises this as a priority area. Changes implemented as part of the pandemic [...]
Meet Mo Al-Ubaydli, CEO of Patients Know Best (PKB). PKB is a social enterprise and technology platform, designed to bring together patient data from health and social care providers and the patient’s own data, into one secure personal health record. Read what Mo has to say about building clinician trust, the role that AHSNs have [...]
Almost 57,000 people (aged 6-18 years) have received an objective assessment for ADHD since the AHSNs began to support a new digital innovation, QbTest. The innovation, which speeds up the time to diagnosis, has improved patient experience and saved the NHS a potential £19.5m since 2017*. It is being used in 59 trusts across 113 [...]
Over the past two years, wound care has had to take a back seat to Covid, like many other services. However, wound care forms the largest proportion of community nursing work and continues to grow due to unwarranted variation. Tackling wound care properly is relatively straightforward and quick, and most importantly will help solve the [...]
For Global Recycling Day on 18 March 2022, Peter Carpenter, Service Delivery Director at Kent Surrey Sussex AHSN talks about the role of the AHSNs in helping the NHS move towards its net zero ambitions. He also introduces the practical application of Hexitime, a time-banking solution which enables people to connect and exchange professional expertise [...]
Burn-out, stress, exhaustion. Headlines like these were all too familiar during the Covid-19 pandemic, and are still a major concern as we start to emerge from the effects of coronavirus. The pressures never seem to stop. This week is Patient Safety Awareness Week, led by the Institute of Healthcare Improvement, and is an opportunity to [...]
Seeing pupil power bring about changes in school dinner menus and playground design was my first taste of public participation in decision making. I was a secondary teacher in Wigan and took on the role of leading the School Council, which led to a wider role with Wigan Borough Council, bringing together representatives of all [...]
With the need to develop new and innovative techniques, treatments and collaborations, the pandemic highlighted how bringing the best and brightest to key roles is vital. And to celebrate International Women’s Day, we’re proud to be able to highlight cases where innovative female leaders are making their mark in the world of health and social [...]
In this blog to mark International Women’s Day (8 March 2022), Maria Kyriacou, NHS Innovation Accelerator Deputy Director, shares her learnings from working with female innovators and how the NHS Innovation Accelerator aims to provide a platform for these exceptional individuals. The NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) is a national programme commissioned by the Accelerated Access [...]
Meet Dr Diana Hodgins MBE, Founder and CEO of Dynamic Metrics Ltd, the owners of GaitSmart. GaitSmart is a portable gait analysis system, which enables data-driven rehabilitation by measuring how people walk. The data is used to provide a personalised exercise programme and engages people to take a more active approach in their rehabilitation and [...]
Eating disorders can affect anyone. It is thought that between 1.25 and 4 million people in the UK have an eating disorder, from every gender, ethnicity, and age with some patients as young as six years old. In this blog for Eating Disorder Awareness Week (28 February-6 March), Charlotte Douglas and Sarah Houston, Innovation Advisors [...]
Professor Bee Wee CBE is the National Clinical Director for End of Life Care at NHS England and NHS Improvement. She is Consultant in Palliative Medicine at Sobell House and Katharine House Hospice, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Associate Professor at University of Oxford, where she is also a Fellow of Harris Manchester [...]
The newly launched national Blood Pressure Optimisation Programme has a big ambition – to prevent heart attacks and strokes at scale by helping primary care to do things differently. As we emerge from the latest wave of the pandemic and focus our energies on recovery and transformation of healthcare, England’s 15 Academic Health Science Networks [...]
Meet Amy Manning, founder of S12 Solutions, an app and website, which together help mental health professionals efficiently complete Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) processes. Developed to replace the outdated paper processes used to organise MHA assessment teams, the innovations aim to minimise delays to assessments, reduce distress and risk for the person waiting, and [...]
I would one day like to become a mum. Part of me is filled with excitement about bringing a child into this world, the pitter patter of tiny feet early in the mornings and waving them off on their first day at school. However, another part of me is somewhat anxious about this potential new [...]
As living and working during the pandemic becomes the norm, the AHSN Network has published a collection of wellbeing resources to help with your physical and mental wellbeing and that of your teams. The resource pack is full of advice, tips and fun exercises anyone can try. Featuring a curated selection of resources from AHSN [...]
The AHSN Network is supporting healthcare systems to prepare for the expansion of virtual wards across England, a way of helping people to safely manage their care at home, rather than in hospital. Virtual wards may make use of remote monitoring technology and apps, alongside care from community-based teams. The AHSN Network is working with [...]
I was thinking about how I would explain ‘remote health’ to my Mum, and it struck me that the concept of remoteness is another example of a health professional’s perspective on healthcare. Remote health refers to those ways of delivering healthcare where the patient is not in the same physical location as the clinician. But [...]
Meet Darren Crombie, CEO and Founder of Bridgit Care, who have developed remote devices to monitor the activities of vulnerable people in their home environment. The tech was originally designed with Darren’s grandfather in mind, to assist the family members caring for him. Bridgit Care also provide support to family carers through a specially designed [...]
An innovative new treatment for people at risk of cardiovascular disease will be made available to patients more quickly, thanks to a three-way agreement between NHS England and NHS Improvement, the AHSN Network and the pharmaceutical company, Novartis. Approved by NICE – Inclisiran is the first of a new type of cholesterol-lowering treatment which uses [...]
The AHSN Network celebrated a win at the prestigious HSJ Awards ceremony in London on 18 November. The AHSN Network was successful in the patient safety category for the significant support Patient Safety Collaboratives and AHSNs provided to implement COVID Oximetry @home and virtual wards. The programme was delivered in partnership with NHS England and [...]
Meet Felicia Vaz, UK Market Lead and Project Manager for FibriCheck, an app that tests your heart in 60 seconds to detect irregularities. Felicia describes how the pandemic shaped a new way for the innovation to be used and why integrated care is the future. Tell us about your innovation – what and why? It [...]
The AHSN Network is helping to transform Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) services across England with the rollout of technology that can provide an objective assessment and help families to receive a diagnosis more quickly. New figures released during ADHD Awareness Month (October) show that, since the start of the first ‘demonstrator’ site in the [...]
Since March 2020, Academic Health Science Networks have supported the rollout of an evidence-based Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) programme called Focus ADHD. Working closely with mental health trusts and community paediatric services, the programme seeks to improve the ADHD assessment offer for children and young people. In the first year of the national programme, [...]
Meet Tony Doyle, Managing Director of Qbtech, whose company’s mission it is to transform the lives of people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) through objective data to help streamline the diagnosis process and help support children and families. Tony tells us why it’s so important that people receive early diagnosis of the condition, and [...]
A report has been published that summarises the work carried out by Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) in 2020 and early 2021 to support the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 patient safety response looks at the roll-out of two patient self-monitoring pathways, COVID Oximetry @home and COVID virtual wards, both designed to allow vulnerable [...]
Meet Nick de Pennington, CEO and Founder of Ufonia, an autonomous telemedicine platform supported by Oxford AHSN and Yorkshire & Humber AHSN. Nick discusses how his innovation supports clinicians to avoid burnout and is assisting the NHS to manage the backlog built up by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as well as his background as a [...]
The AHSN Network and the NHS Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) are partnering with the cholesterol charity, HEART UK, to launch a new education programme for healthcare professionals called Tackling Cholesterol Together. Led by key national figures in cardiovascular disease, Tackling Cholesterol Together is the national professional education programme supporting the NHS England and NHS Improvement [...]
The AHSN Network and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have entered into a two-year collaboration agreement to further strengthen the use of the best evidence-based healthcare in the NHS. NICE promotes health and care excellence within the NHS and other public health and social care services by developing evidence-based guidance and [...]
Meet Stephen Towe, CEO of Leo Cancer Care – the more human way to treat cancer, built on research from across the globe showing the benefits of upright patient positioning. Stephen discusses the company’s goals, inspirations, hopes for the future and why you should never wear a tie in California. Tell us about your innovation [...]
The UK Government recently published its Life Sciences Vision, which sets a 10-year strategy for the sector to solve some of the biggest healthcare challenges of our generation, including cancer, dementia and using innovation to help build out of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As the innovation arm of the NHS in England, and the link [...]
Thousands of toddlers will be screened for an inherited gene that can cause early heart disease as part of a new national pilot programme delivered by the AHSN Network. Over the next two years, 30,000 children across England will be assessed using a heel prick blood test to identify if they have a ‘faulty gene’ [...]
Meet Jane Van Aken, Director of Product Development at Spirit Digital, a remote monitoring solution supported by the AHSN Network. Jane discusses her ‘light bulb’ moment, advice for budding innovators and how virtual monitoring has been a lifeline for many during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Tell us about your innovation – what and why? CliniTouch [...]
We are working with mental health trusts and community paediatric services across England to improve the assessment process for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) for children and young people through our Focus ADHD national programme. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder and affects around 5% of school-aged children worldwide [1]. Symptoms include inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. If [...]
The AHSN Network 2020-2021 Impact Report highlights how the innovation delivery arm of the NHS has benefitted more than 258,000 patients through its national programmes during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The report highlights outstanding impacts achieved by AHSNs and evidences how they are driving adoption and spread in healthcare innovation, transforming patient outcomes, enabling efficiencies, [...]
Over the last yearbeen either created or protected as a result of work by the AHSN Network. These figures have been released as part of our 20-21 AHSN Network Impact Report, which looks at the collective impacts of England’s 15 AHSNs. Economic growth impacts are drawn from company surveys and demonstrate remarkable progress in the [...]
A report capturing the AHSN experience during the coronavirus pandemic has been published as part of the AHSN’s Health and Care Reset campaign to inform leaders across the NHS as it enters the next phase of the pandemic response. The AHSN Network Health and Care Reset Campaign was launched to collate and spread learnings and insights [...]
An in-depth study examining approaches to spreading and adopting innovation in the health sector has been published by the AHSN Network to help AHSNs, and partners, understand and harness the AHSN collective experience and expertise. The review, which identifies the different approaches used across the 15 AHSNs within the Network, highlights the complexity of spread [...]
Research was undertaken between January and November 2020, to determine approaches and challenges to spread and adoption across the AHSN Network – focusing on the period January 2018 to January 2020. The study sought to: Generate a before unknown aggregated view of approaches and challenges Understand the range and type of approaches in use Explore [...]
In the first year of a new AHSN Network-backed programme, more than 260 patients with an eating disorder have been supported through the First Episode Rapid Early Intervention for Eating Disorders (FREED) model. FREED is an innovative, evidence-based, specialist care package for 16 to 25-year-olds with a first episode eating disorder of less than three [...]
The AHSN Network has partnered with the South Asian Health Foundation to set up a series of webinars to support learning and exchange opportunities with clinicians from the UK and India on COVID-19. You can find all the webinars on this AHSN Network YouTube playlist or follow these individual links: Wednesday 5 May: Remote monitoring [...]
This webinar highlighted the association between oxygen saturations and COVID-19 which underpins the need for the COVID Oximetry @home pathway. Hosted by the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Academic Health Science Network (AHSN Network), it shared a collaborative approach to monitor and manage patients at risk of sudden deterioration. The session was chaired [...]
A note from our Chair In March 2020, the health and care system embarked on the most challenging year in its history. Within a matter of days, all 15 Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) realigned resources and refocused our existing work to support the national and regional response to coronavirus (COVID-19). We adapted and channelled [...]
A rapid-learning report on the role of Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) during the pandemic has been published by the AHSN Network. PSCs are just one part of the health and care system which responded quickly to the immediate crisis from COVID-19 in March. They reprioritised their day-to-day work and took on new programmes at speed, [...]
This webinar on Thursday 9 July, 1-2pm was jointly presented by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the Academic Health Science Network. Chaired by Dr Jonathan Leach OBE, RCGP Hon Sec and COVID lead, with Dr Mike Linney, Paediatrican and Registrar of the RCPCH, [...]
A toolkit for healthcare staff has been published by the National Tracheostomy Safety Project (NTSP) in collaboration with the AHSN Network and the National Patient Safety Improvement Programmes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to support healthcare staff who are looking after patients with tracheostomies. The number of patients requiring relatively prolonged ventilatory support in [...]
Detecting the early signs of deterioration in patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 is a significant challenge for health and social care teams. As patients at risk of poorer outcomes can be identified by reduced oxygen saturation levels, the ability to recognise early decreases in blood oxygen levels before the patient becomes symptomatic is [...]
Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) identify and spread safer care initiatives in their local health and care systems. As part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, here are some information and resources to support people working in secondary care. Go back to patient safety during COVID-19. Safe tracheostomy care A toolkit for healthcare staff has [...]
Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) identify and spread safer care initiatives in their local health and care systems. As part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, here are some information and resources to support people working in primary care. Go back to patient safety during COVID-19. Pulse oximetry and remote monitoring guidance COVID virtual ward [...]
Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) identify and spread safer care initiatives in their local health and care systems. As part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, here are some information and resources to support staff in care homes. Go back to patient safety during COVID-19. Spotting serious illness and sepsis Some people are more at [...]
If you work in a residential care home, or are a professional or family carer supporting someone in their own home, there are many tools available help you recognise physical deterioration and take the appropriate actions. You can read an overview of spotting serious illness and sepsis. These films explain the soft signs of deterioration [...]
The National Early Warning Score (NEWS) is used by GPs, all ambulance services and most acute hospital trusts to check patients who may be at increasing risk of deterioration or developing sepsis. You can read an overview of spotting serious illness and sepsis. How NEWS works NEWS has been created by the Royal College of [...]
This webinar on Wednesday 27 May 2020 shared examples of current good practice and collaboration between primary care and care homes, including resources to support virtual ward rounds. Chaired by Dr Jonathan Leach OBE, RCGP Hon Sec and COVID lead, with Anita Astle MBE, Managing Director of Wren Hall Nursing Home in Nottingham, and Dr [...]
The assessment of patients who are unwell with COVID-19 or other causes presents a significant challenge for GPs and clinicians working in primary care. The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the AHSN Network held a joint webinar looking at the role of oximetry and other physiology in that assessment on Wednesday 29 April [...]
People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at increased risk from coronavirus. The British Thoracic Society (BTS) has developed COPD admission and discharge care bundles with the aim of improving care, helping patients manage their condition at home, and reducing readmissions. Acute hospital trusts are being encouraged to deliver all appropriate elements of the [...]
Patient Safety Collaboratives and the Academic Health Science Networks which host them, are supporting their local health and care systems during the response to the COVID-19 outbreak in hospitals, care homes and the community. There are resources available here for people working in: Care homes Primary care Hospitals, mental health and community services The AHSN Network [...]
The National Early Warning Score (NEWS) is associated with a reduction in mortality in those patients admitted with a possible diagnosis of sepsis without increasing the overall number of admissions, according to a paper published today in the British Journal of General Practice (BJGP). Alison Tavaré, one of the paper’s authors has also written a [...]
Health Education England has published a set of materials and films which aim to support staff through difficult conversations arising from the COVID-19 outbreak. The AHSN Network was part of a small group of people that helped pull this resource together in less than two weeks. The framework includes posters and films based on the [...]
Some people are more at risk than others of becoming unwell very quickly and developing a serious illness such as sepsis. This is known as ‘deterioration’ and it is important that anyone who cares for individuals who are at risk of deterioration knows how to spot the signs, especially during the current COVID-19 outbreak. This [...]
Wessex and the West of England Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) and West Hampshire CCG, funded by Health Education England, have collaborated to produce a series of free videos and e-learning materials to support staff working in care homes to care for residents who are at risk of deterioration. As recognised in a recent paper [...]
Our NHS should represent and reflect the communities we serve. This does not just apply to our front line workforce. The way that we develop and adopt innovation and technology must also be based around our core mission to serve all our population, and to ensure that the transformation of our health service reduces, and [...]
A new report highlighting the compelling business case for increased diversity in innovation in the NHS is to be launched by the AHSN Network at Health and Care Innovation Expo 2019 in Manchester today, Wednesday 4 September 2019. The report ‘Diversity and innovation – a celebration of BAME innovators and our pledges to do [...]
