People at the heart of driving the innovation of health and care across the region with the support of the West of England AHSN gathered in Bristol yesterday for a special showcase event, along with guests from the Accelerated Access Collaborative, NHS England’s Innovation, Research and Life Sciences team and the government’s Office for Life Sciences.
The event featured examples of how the members of our network are working together with cross-sector partners to develop and spread proven innovation to tackle health inequalities and improve outcomes for all.
During the event we heard from clinicians, entrepreneurs, patients, community activists, researchers, local authority staff, teachers and students to celebrate achievements and share learning to date.
Follow the story of the day on Twitter.
The showcase event was attended by Matt Whitty, Chief Executive, Accelerated Access Collaborative and Director of Innovation, Research and Life Sciences, NHS England and NHS Improvement, who said:
“Through research and innovation, we can improve patient outcomes and reduce health inequalities and so it is important to celebrate and spotlight their impact as we hope to do so today. Already over 1.4 million patients have benefited from our programmes.
“It’s been incredibly insightful to visit the West of England AHSN and to talk to so many people helping get some of the NHS’s most promising healthcare innovations to patients faster.
“I think the thing that excites me most is the clear link to reducing health inequalities. We’ve seen some fantastic innovations around mental health, particularly for younger people, and that really link into that Core20PLUS5 framework around maternity care in particular.
“We’ve seen PReCePT which is a programme that the AHSNs and ourselves have been supporting for a number of years, which is reducing the risk of harm to premature babies. It’s fantastic to see that programme expand into 11 evidence-based healthcare interventions as part of the PERIPrem programme, making care safer, making patient experience better and is making patient outcomes better as well. ”
Watch Matt Whitty talk at our event in Bristol.
Natasha Swinscoe, Chief Executive of the West of England AHSN, said:
“Our AHSN has earned a reputation for an ambitious, joined-up vision for healthcare innovation and transformation and we’ve worked hard over the years to support the spread and adoption of innovation in a truly collaborative way to make sure the impact of our work has the broadest and most sustained benefit.
“After working virtually for the last couple of years, it was wonderful for so many of our partners to gather in person yesterday to showcase and celebrate what we have achieved together since 2013 and to share a preview of projects in the pipeline.”
Innovations and projects featured in the showcase included:
- Black Maternity Matters – supporting midwives to improve outcomes for Black mothers
- LatchAid – breastfeeding support app using pioneering 3D interactive technology
- PERIPrem – a perinatal bundle improving outcomes for babies born before 34 weeks
- PReCePT – helping reduce incidence of cerebral palsy in preterm babies
- MiHUB – uses ProReal’s interactive avatar technology to help young people with self-reflection and coping skills.
- SmartGym Gloucestershire – developed by Rugged Interactive and the Anna Freud National Centre for Children & Families to support mental health resilience in young people
- National Early Warning Score – now used at all handovers of care across the West of England
- Emergency Department Safety Checklist – spread across the region and now used nationally
- SharED – supporting high impact users in emergency departments
- ReSPECT – recommended summary plan for emergency care and treatment
- Learning Disabilities Collaborative – providing a much-needed space for cross-system working and sharing of good practice
- South West Ambulance Connector Project – discovery project exploring the challenges around patient information sharing
- Procomp Solutions – AI logistics technology being piloted through our Domiciliary Care Workforce Programme
- getUBetter – digital self-management platform for common MSK injuries & conditions
- PreciSSIon – reduce surgical site infections (SSIs) after elective colorectal surgery.
Posted on March 31, 2022
