Contributing to the forthcoming 10-year Health Plan, the Innovation Ecosystem Programme (IEP) advisory board has published a report outlining recommendations for change through innovation.
Chair of the programme, Roland Sinker, CBE, notes in the foreword that “despite the urgent need to act, staff, patients and the wide range of partners we spoke to sensed we were missing the opportunity to respond to the challenge”. He added that “staff feel they do not have the capacity or the support to test, adopt and scale innovation” and “even when they do, they have disjointed policy and regulation hurdles to clear, often within sceptical or risk averse cultures”.
Sinker continued to emphasise that “without embracing innovation, we put at risk having a sustainable healthcare system”, adding that “realising the opportunities will require a greater scale of ambition, with the funding, long-term planning and support to match”.
The report opens by highlighting challenges with workforce capacity and widening health inequality, noting that these challenges are “exacerbated by rising demand for care, an ageing population and stretched resources”.
The IEP identifies four strategic workstreams to help with creating a framework for the future. These are focused on learning by doing, immediate actions, an NHS innovation blueprint, and preparing for the NHS of tomorrow. Commenting on the outcomes of these workstreams, the report outlines how, “the programme found an abundance of development and testing of innovative solutions in the NHS. These are the cornerstone of NHS partnership with life sciences, but spreading and scaling their adoption remain our biggest challenge.”
To address this challenge, the report goes on to explain key enablers that can help with successful spread of these innovations. This includes adopting a whole-pathway approach that considers benefits for everyone from clinical staff to patients, to get everyone on board with the transformation. There are also considerations around utility and alignment with existing workflows, showcasing evidence of impact to encourage support, as well as effective clinical leadership at every level, while empowering workforce “change makers” who drive continuous improvement. Incentives and strategic use of data also play a major role in tackling the challenge of appealing to the masses.
The IEP further recommends setting a clear direction, focusing on the three key shifts outlined in the Lord Darzi report of hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention; while also suggesting that “innovation should be considered part of the NHS mandate with a sharper and more ambitious focus. Government should set clear priorities – and develop these with patient groups, NHS England and other national bodies.”
The report proposes that the right structures and tools are needed for delivery, combined with a commitment to building the necessary skills to empower the NHS workforce, and accelerated mobilisation around key priorities within major areas. The goal is to collaborate and prioritise, with the members IEP advisory board now considering when and how to deliver these recommendations as part of their next steps and long-term strategy. Read the full report here.
NHS innovation
In a recent feature, we spoke to a number of different NHS and health tech professionals to find out what they think it is holding the NHS back from innovation. A lack of funding, capacity and scalability were common barriers noted, with better training, more focus on building confidence and dedicated innovation funding were suggested as ways to overcome these challenges.
Earlier this month, we conducted a panel discussion dissecting Lord Darzi’s report to reflect on the challenges and opportunities within the NHS. Again, this included talk around the different blockers on innovation and frustrations with putting words into action. There was also conversation surrounding the useful innovations that have already been implemented within the NHS.
NHS England has recently shared a roadmap for organisation data service, outlining key achievements so far and planned actions takes us up to June 2025. The main objective given is to create a “single source of truth” for reference data and continuous data enhancements.
You can find out more information on the proposed innovation and tech changes within the NHS by checking out our latest panel discussions, particularly our next one on Health Tech and Innovation for the Future.
