'Let innovation be just the way we do things round here'

Senior health and care leaders in Cheshire and Merseyside are collaborating to ensure innovations deliver the greatest possible impact on services.

Health Innovation North West Coast joined forces with NHS Cheshire and Merseyside in hosting an event to discuss how to drive the adoption and spread of innovations in the region.

Prof Rowan Pritchard Jones, Medical Director at NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, ended the event with a plea to colleagues to ‘be ambitious’ and said: “Let innovation be just the way we do things around here.”

Around 50 key decision-makers convened for the latest Health Innovation Collaborative, a new series of events launched by Health Innovation North West Coast. The meetings bring together stakeholders from the health sector and industry to foster more productive collaborations.

The focus of the event in Liverpool was on defining the innovation ecosystem. It was staged in part as a response to the NHS’s Innovation Ecosystem Programme (IEP) report which makes recommendations about how the UK can become a global leader in health innovation while generating economic growth.

Prof Pritchard Jones said: “I’ve been thoroughly nourished by the discussions we’ve heard. It’s now up to people here to play their part by going out to lobby and advocate and be ambitious about what innovation can achieve.

“We should put an end to the things that don’t work in our system and use the money we save to invest in the things that do make a difference.

“The challenge now is to agree the next step that will achieve the kind of gravitational pull that we need.”

Prof Pritchard Jones chaired a panel session that discussed how the innovation ecosystem in Cheshire and Merseyside might develop.  The panel featured:

• Prof Iain Buchan, Pro Vice Chancellor for Innovation at the University of Liverpool
• Prof Ian Ashworth, Director of Population Health at NHS Cheshire and Merseyside
• Andrea Astbury, Director of the Data into Action programme at NHS Cheshire and Merseyside
• Seamus O’Neill, Managing Director of Liverpool Health Partners
• Andrew Cooper, Clinical Director at Health Innovation North West Coast

Dr Phil Jennings, Chief Executive of Health Innovation North West Coast, spelt out the key findings of the IEP report. They were:

• Innovation should be core NHS business
• Innovation should align with the three NHS shifts – moving care from hospitals to the community, embracing digital transformation and shifting from treatment to prevention
• Funding sources should be aligned to create fewer, bigger pots of money
• Incentives should be created to deliver goals

Dr Jennings said the programme called for health innovation networks, of which Health Innovation North West Coast is one, to work with integrated care systems to embed and spread innovation, especially when applying for funding.

He added the health and care system was well represented at the conference and included clinicians, academics and other partners, including innovators from industry.

“There was enough energy in the meeting to show that we can achieve real momentum in the way we drive change so that we can say our area is innovation-ready.

“Several work streams need to emerge from the discussions we’ve seen and we’re happy to convene future meetings in partnership with Liverpool Health Partners.”

Liverpool Health Partners had held a meeting in the autumn with a similar innovation agenda.

If you would like to know more about the Health Innovation Collaborative series, please contact us at info@healthinnovationnwc.nhs.uk