Blogs

Hello My Name is Mandy, I am a biomedical scientist and I work in Patient Safety at the Innovation Agency. I know that I am truly lucky, working across the whole North West Coast to help frontline services improve. My role gives me a unique view of the NHS services I work with, and to lots of really exciting innovations that are coming through to help us improve NHS care even faster.

Following the launch of NHS Employers’ #WonderfulWomenWhoDo campaign I have been reflecting on some of the wonderful women in my life.

Earlier this month I had the privilege to attend the inaugural Women in Life Sciences Forum, facilitated by the American Pharmaceutical Group, with support from 10 Downing Street and the Office for Life Sciences.

On a day to day basis, healthcare staff are applying the four core principles of ethics that are ingrained in them, namely autonomy, justice, beneficence and non-maleficence. However, new technologies and big data bring added complexities to an NHS that is already awash with ethical dilemmas where utilitarian and deontological principles conflict and cause stress for hard pressed staff.

Every single day in health and care organisations catastrophes are prevented from occurring. This is not just down to the fact that people are highly trained, but also because they work in teams where they are able to speak out when they see a problem.

Psychological safety is the term that describes this phenomenon; it is where people in teams are not afraid to admit mistakes and where problems are seen as learning opportunities. 

At the Innovation Agency we have a mission to help people live longer, healthier lives. 

This means preventing them from becoming ill, or if they become ill, ensuring that they can live with health conditions in a way that helps them to have a full, meaningful life. 

I entered the NHS five years ago after spending 20 years in the private sector, latterly in banking. From finance to health is an unusual career trajectory but it helped me bring into the NHS some valuable insights, particularly about attitudes to change.

My placement has been a journey of opportunities to learn and gain experience. Working here at the Innovation Agency has enabled me to develop significant understanding about how much impact the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs), especially the Innovation Agency, have on improving health and care through the spread and adoption of technology and innovation.

Without trying to measure the impact of changes, we will never know which ways of organising services will be most helpful in maximising benefits for patients and minimising costs. Researchers can help service leaders clarify goals, gather relevant evidence and identify appropriate methods to assess service changes, local and national.

I am a doctor on the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur programme who is very grateful to be granted a rotation working between public health and digital health due to the incredible support of Dr Liz Mear, chief executive of the Innovation Agency.