Come and find out more about health innovation by visiting the AHSN Network’s Innovation Feature Zone at ConfedExpo 2023.

The event, which is being held this year at the Manchester Central in Manchester on 14-15 June 2023, marks the second year of the combined Confed and Expo conference.

The Innovation Zone will comprise of a mini-theatre, hosting 8 content sessions about different aspects of health innovation. There will also be a networking space, where you can meet AHSN colleagues and our partners; innovator pods – showcasing 24 health and care innovators that have worked with AHSNs as well as stand presence from our partners in the Life Sciences Hub Wales; NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme; the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) and the NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA). We will also be joined by the team behind the new NHS Innovation Service, created by NHS England’s Accelerated Access Collaborative.

The speakers and session titles are as follows:

Wednesday 14 June

  • 10:00 – 10:40am What is ‘real-world evidence’ and why is it so crucial to the successful spread of innovation?

Speakers: Neville Young – Director of Enterprise & Innovation, Yorkshire and Humber AHSN; Ilias Zapantis – Director of Discovery, UCL Partners; Dr Greg Burch – Co-founder and Clinical Director, Tiny Medical Apps; Nick Hex – Associate Director (NHS and public sector), York Health Economic Consortium; Martin Eades – Managing Partner Priory Medical Group

  • 11:50 – 12:30pm Sustaining adoption of innovation in the NHS

Speakers: Konrad Dobschuetz – National Director, NHS Innovation Accelerator; Antoinette Honegan – Founder, Muther Tongue; Laura Earnshaw – Founder and CEO, myHappymind; Piyush Mahapatra – Director of Innovation, Open Medical; Dr Masood Ahmed Chief Digital Officer – Health Innovation Network and WM AHSN

  • 1:10 – 1:50pm The potential for digital and AI innovations to support elective recovery

Speakers: Dr Theodora Ephson – Head of Growth, Ufonia; Michelle Coleiro – Head of Programmes, Innovation Agency (Academic Health Science Network for the North West Coast); Dr Amanda Begley – Exec Director of Digital Transformation, Health Innovation Network; Sam Hayes – Consultant Respiratory Physiotherapist Knowsley Community Respiratory Service, Liverpool Heart and Chest NHS Foundation Trust; Jenni West – Associate Director of Digital Change, Innovation Agency (Academic Health Science Network for the North West Coast)

  • 3:00 – 3:40pm How patient safety and care is being supported

Speakers: Natasha Swinscoe – Chief Executive, West of England; Cheryl Crocker – Director Patient Safety, The AHSN Network; Whittle Katie – Head of Programmes, Innovation Agency (Academic Health Science Network for the North West Coast); Jodie Mazur – Head of Delivery: Safety and Improvement, West Midlands AHSN

Thursday 15 June

  • 10:00 – 10:40am Innovation and rapid evaluation helping address health inequalities

Speakers: Richard Stubbs – Chief Executive, Yorkshire and Humber AHSN; Sally Irwin – Project Manager for Diabetes, Health Innovation Network; Laura Boyd – Director of Implementation, UCLPartners; Cathy McCabe – Evaluation and Learning Partner, South West AHSN

  • 11:40 – 12:20pm How digital and robotic innovations are integral to transforming services

Speakers: Cari-Anne Quinn – Chief Executive Officer, Life Sciences Hub Wales; Kenneth Lim – Surgeon – Obstetrics And Gynaecology, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board;
Ana Raduc – General Manager for UK and Ireland, CMR Surgical: Jonathan Morgan – Programme Manager for the All-Wales Robotics Programme, Life Sciences Hub Wales; Raffaella Roncone Assistant Director and Head of Innovation and Enterprises LGC Group; Carey McClellan CEO and Clinical Director getUBetter; Dafydd Loughran CEO Concentric Health

  • 1:10 – 1:50pm Net Zero – Innovations helping the NHS to achieve its Net Zero targets

Speakers: Kathy Scott – Deputy Chief Executive, Yorkshire and Humber AHSN; Dr Dominique Allwood – Chief Medical Officer & AHSN Deputy, UCLPartners; Amelia James – Environmental Sustainability Lead, Kent, Surrey and Sussex AHSN and Oxford AHSN; Piyush Mahapatra – Director of Innovation, Open Medical; Dr Natalia Kurek – Deputy Director, Greener NHS Programme

  • 3:00 – 3:40pm Culture: How innovation is transforming mental health and neurodiversity services for children and young people

Speakers: Rachel Surtees – Director of Implementation, UCLPartners; Laura Semple – Director – National programmes, The AHSN Network; Jill Owens – Early Intervention in Eating Disorders National Programme Lead, Health Innovation Network South London; Tim Hobbs Chief Executive Dartington Service Design Lab.

To find out more about the AHSN Network Innovation Feature Zone at this year’s ConfedExpo, visit https://linktr.ee/ahsnevents

Tickets are free for NHS Confederation members, NHS, local government and members of the wider public sector. Register to attend.

  • Innovation for Healthcare Inequalities Programme: Impact and learning report

    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 [...]

  • Local change, national impact: the Health Innovation Network 2023-24 Impact Report

    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 [...]

  • Network welcomes Dr Dominique Allwood

    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 [...]