NHS Golden Jubilee’s national Centre for Sustainable Delivery, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, University of Glasgow, AstraZeneca UK and Lenus Health have launched a collaboration to co-create NHS Scotland transformation.
The partnership aims to deliver transformation by testing new patient pathways and using digital technologies to support earlier diagnosis and treatment; to enable large scale clinical trials and studies in Scotland; to collect evidence to assess the effectiveness of new clinical management pathways; and to scale up successful pathways to spread across NHS Scotland.
Initial focus is on the long-term conditions and priorities set by the Scottish Government, with the Optimised Pathway for Early Identification of Heart Failure in the Community (OPERA) marking the first project to be considered for rollout across NHS Scotland.
Other projects under consideration include early intervention strategies for COPD and screening for early heart failure diagnosis and management in primary care or at home.
The University of Glasgow says that “expansion of clinical research will promote the profile of Scotland and change clinical practice around the world”, and notes that the ambition is for “patients throughout Scotland with all chronic diseases [to be] offered enrolment in studies and trials of new pathways and therapies.”
Professor Jann Gardner, Chief Executive of NHS Golden Jubilee, commented: “This collaboration provides opportunities to improve patient care, employ new technologies and medicines, while addressing the impact of health inequalities and social barriers to provide a more sustainable future healthcare system.”
Professor Iain McInnes, University of Glasgow Vice Principal and Head of the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, noted that the collaboration “represents a strengthening of the vital triple helix partnership between research, industry and the NHS” and added: “Using the world-changing research carried out at the University of Glasgow, we will work together with AstraZeneca and the NHS in Scotland with the aim to deliver more high calibre trials and ultimately improve patient care.”
Paul McGinness, Chief Executive Officer at Lenus Health, said: “As the exclusive digital partner of this unique agreement, we are delighted to be part of a new way of working that will enable innovations to be developed and implemented rapidly at scale in Scotland and across the NHS… By joining up data across clinical pathways and giving patients tools to engage with their health services, providers can significantly improve outcomes and enable more personalised healthcare.”
