Health and care partners in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire have been selected to participate in an exciting new discovery initiative to increase understanding of how health and care systems can effectively introduce and scale innovation.
Launched in December 2024 by the Health Foundation, the 12-month ‘Accelerating Innovation Systems’ programme will develop practical learnings on the different roles Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and Health Innovation Networks (HINs) play in innovation adoption and spread.
NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) ICB is one of the individual ICBs selected to be part of the programme, in partnership with Health Innovation West of England.
BNSSG ICB’s participation in this programme successfully builds on the established relationship between local health and care partners and Health Innovation West of England through the Innovate Healthier Together programme.
Over the last 18 months, Innovate Healthier Together has aimed to accelerate innovative practices through nurturing innovation mindsets and leadership, understanding the local components needed to adopt innovation, building a system-wide network of innovators through the Innovate Healthier Together Fellowship and developing a culture of innovation throughout health and care teams.
ICBs have a statutory duty to promote innovation in the provision of health care services, while the HINs have a remit to facilitate local to national innovation adoption.
Working with six diverse individual ICBs, plus one consortium of three ICBs, and their partner HINs, the Health Foundation initiative aims to explore how we can address the challenges of disconnection between national and local innovation strategies, as well as to share learning across regional innovation systems.
The Health Foundation, alongside the Innovation Unit will observe and convene the ICB and HIN leads as they engage in adoption and spread activity, drawing out the components required within an innovation ecosystem to successfully support ICBs and HINs to spread and scale innovation.
A peer learning network will also be established to share best practice across the participating systems, and practical learning resources will be developed.
Deborah El-Sayed, BNSSG ICB’s Chief Transformation and Digital Information Officer, said:
“I’m delighted we have been invited to participate in this prestigious initiative, recognising our health and care system as one that embraces innovation and innovative practices.
“This opportunity allows us to share our insights and experiences from delivering the Innovate Healthier Together programme in collaboration with Health Innovation West of England. We are keen to demonstrate how we plan to integrate these outputs into our strategic planning and operational delivery, while also learning from the innovative approaches of other ICBs to further enhance our collective impact.”
Natasha Swinscoe, Chief Executive of Health Innovation West of England, added:
“We’re really looking forward to contributing our local learning on what works well in spreading health and care innovation as part of this new 12-month discovery initiative.
“As the government develops its 10-Year Health Plan, it will be more important than ever to understand what is needed to accelerate the adoption of innovation. The problem is not a lack of cutting-edge innovation. The challenge instead has always been how we successfully adopt, spread and embed these into health and care services at scale.”
Find out more about the Accelerating Innovation Systems programme here.
Posted on February 3, 2025
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