Over the last year, the West of England AHSN has trained thousands of clinicians, delivered benefits to hundreds of thousands of patients and secured millions of pounds of investment for local innovators. Our work has had a direct positive impact on the lives of diverse groups such premature babies, asthma patients, care home residents and we have also educated, supported and nurtured the clinicians and innovators striving to improve the care they receive.
The West of England AHSN is one of 15 Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) across England that together make up the AHSN Network. We are commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement and the Government’s Office for Life Sciences to accelerate the spread and adoption of healthcare innovation to improve patient outcomes, reduce NHS costs, create jobs and generate economic growth.
Commenting on the collective impact our network has achieved in 2021/22 Tasha Swinscoe, Chief Executive of the West of England AHSN said:
“As the innovation arm of the NHS we are creating a vibrant innovation pipeline, securing investment for, and nurturing, new products, services and pathways with clear evidence of effectiveness, which are ready to be adopted by our local systems. Read this impact review to see how we’re working with colleagues from health and care, industry, research and academia, the voluntary and community sector, and with patients and the public, to drive innovation at every stage of this pipeline.
“The success and sustainability of our work is based on our approach of supporting ‘home grown’ innovations developed locally. This year I’ve been particularly excited to see PreciSSIon and PERIPrem go from strength-to-strength and by the launch of our new Black Maternity Matters pilot helping to tackle the inequitable maternity outcomes faced by Black mothers.
“I’m so incredibly proud of what we’ve been able to achieve together and look forward to continuing this journey of innovation and improvement in the months and years ahead.”
Steve West, Chair of the West of England AHSN commented:
“Over the last few years our AHSN has become firmly embedded in the West of England heath and care ecosystem, helping to further build and strengthen an energetic and enthusiastic community of innovators and improvers. Considering the challenges facing the NHS currently, this is a significant achievement.
“More than ever this collective approach is necessary to tackle the many health inequalities that exist in our society, and we look forward to working ever more closely with our integrated care system colleagues, along with patients and the public, academics and researchers, industry and innovators and the voluntary sector to genuinely transform lives through healthcare innovation.”
Nigel Harris, Director of Innovation and Growth at the West of England AHSN adds:
“Our specialist business development team understands the local health and care sector needs in this region and knows how to navigate the NHS system. Over the past year we supported 124 companies and innovators. There are funding opportunities available for innovations that could improve patient outcomes and reduce NHS costs. We offer innovators with a wide range of support, and we help to ensure that new products align to clinical priorities and requirements.”
For more on our work in transforming lives through innovation across the West of England and the country, read our full impact review here: https://www.healthinnowest.net/impact-review-2021-22-transforming-lives-through-innovation/
Posted on June 13, 2022
