SBRI (Small Business Research Initiative) Healthcare, in collaboration with the Greener NHS programme and the Health Innovation Network, has awarded £3.2 million to 22 innovations designed to help “improve care and accelerate a greener NHS”, with recipients including an AI-based predictive tool for pressure ulcers; a neurorehabilitation app designed to reduce the carbon footprint of community stroke rehabilitation; and a process utilising ultraviolet radiation to enable re-use of medical devices close to the point of care.
19 of the 22 innovations received £1.7 million collectively through SBRI’s ‘Competition 24: Delivering a Net Zero NHS for a Healthier Future’ focusing on clinical engagement, pathway transformation, and “novel business models to enable circularity in perioperative and critical care settings”. A further three projects received a portion of £1.5 million under SBRI’s ‘Competition 22 Delivering a Net Zero NHS Clinical Innovation, Phase 2’ for “the development of prototypes and evaluation before real-world implementation”.
Among the projects receiving funding are two from Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust; a digital green impact assessment tool designed to help staff understand and minimise the environmental impact of a project, policy or service, and a virtual neurorehabilitation care model intended to maximise the wider sustainability benefits of virtual consultations.
Other projects to receive funding include a digital platform to “support efficient test selection”; an “advanced technology suite” to make healthcare textile processing more efficient; and a “sensor-rich haptic wearable and advanced telemedicine platform” to aid in the the prevention of diabetic foot ulcers.
To read about the funded projects in full, please click here.
In related news, North Bristol NHS Trust has shared insight into a ‘green operating day’ held by the trust’s neurosurgery team at Southmead Hospital which saw a one-day trial run simultaneously across all neurosurgical theatres to explore how sustainably the operating list could be run.
Elsewhere, East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust has announced that it will be installing energy efficient LED lighting in every ward, theatre, clinic and office at its Lister Hospital site in Stevenage, following a government grant of £1.1 million through the NHS National Energy Efficiency Fund.
