InnoScot Health has announced a new innovation call to inspire new ideas and projects that support good child and maternal health.
With up to £25k available for initial seed funding, the programme includes regulatory support, project management and guidance.
Aimed to support idea generation and innovations focused on pregnancy and perinatal treatment and care, the initiative is looking for ideas that could include: devices for managing and monitoring pregnancy, innovations to improve labour and delivery; technologies for neonates needing specialist care; improving outcomes for mothers with co-morbidities, and support for women experiencing mental health problems before and after delivery.
Robert Rea, head of innovation at InnoScot Health, commented on the initiative: “It is vital that we improve the outcomes of maternity and neonatal care for all women, babies, and families in Scotland, and place more focus on mental health and inequalities. In 2020, women were three times more likely to die by suicide during or up to six weeks after the end of pregnancy compared to 2017-2019. We also know black and Asian women have a higher chance of dying during pregnancy compared to white women, while further inequalities remain an issue.
“But we have an opportunity to work collaboratively to improve pregnancy and perinatal services and are calling on NHS Scotland workers who have vast experience and insight to come forward with their ideas and solutions. Workforce innovators with breakthrough ideas can be the difference that makes for improved patient outcomes.”
Head of project management, Gillian Henderson, added: “The aim is to inspire bespoke solutions to everyday issues from the people who work within the service and often best understand the challenges. Our commercial support then helps translate ideas into products and services that can then be deployed back into the NHS, resulting in improved outcomes, better processes, and a more sustainable health service.”
The call will open for submissions on Wednesday 7 June. Ideas can be submitted online via www.innoscot.com.
