Health Innovation Network Health Innovation Podcast

It’s fantastic to create an innovation and get it into practice with support from innovation systems and startup funding; but how is it sustained beyond its initial launch?
In this episode we hear how two innovators have been supported and how national innovation schemes are helping them to accelerate their adoption and spread.
In conversation with Caroline Kenyon are Konrad Dobschuetz of the NHS Innovation Accelerator and UCLPartners; Antoinette Honegan of Muther Tongue; and Piyush Mahapatra of Open Medical.
The episode was recorded at NHS ConfedExpo 2023 following a theatre session.

Useful links:
NHS Innovation Accelerator: https://nhsaccelerator.com/
NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme: https://nhscep.com/
Open Medical Ltd: https://www.openmedical.co.uk/
Muther Tongue: https://www.muthertongue.co.uk/
Find your local AHSN:  https://www.ahsnnetwork.com/about-us/your-local-ahsn

The AHSN Network launched a refreshed Patient Safety Plan at NHS ConfedExpo 2023, reflecting progress made across focus areas including managing deterioration in care homes; maternity and neonatal health; medicines safety; mental health; and system safety. 
Caroline Kenyon talks to four leaders responsible for delivering the plan across the country, Tasha Swinscoe, Alison White, Katie Whittle and Jodie Mazar.
Read the Patient safety in partnership report.
Evaluating Community Assessment and Treatment Units (CATUs) in Cornwall - Annual Review (swahsn.com)
FutureNHS: https://future.nhs.uk/ahsnsafety/groupHome
Find your local AHSN:  https://www.ahsnnetwork.com/about-us/your-local-ahsn/

You’ve got a great idea for an innovation which could help the NHS, but don’t know where to get support from or how to develop it. Introducing the NHS Innovation Service - a new service bringing together the expertise of leading healthcare organisations, offering joined-up support and tailored advice for innovators, in one place. 

Matt Newman, Deputy Director of the Accelerated Access Collaborative, is leading on the development of the NHS Innovation Service which aims to get more innovations to clinicians and patients faster. 

Our reporter Nigel Thompson chatted to Matt at HETT in London to find out more about why the service has been developed, the support on offer and how it aims to accelerate the uptake of innovation.  

This episode explores how gathering real-world evidence and evaluation is an important part of encouraging adoption and spread of innovation in the health and care sector. Dr Nev Young talks about the publication of a new real-world evaluation guide for innovators released by the AHSN Network, we hear from Lee Omar, Founder and CEO of Safe Steps about how it has helped their business thrive, and Vandana Ayyar Gupta, Scientific Adviser at NICE on their perspective.

Environmental sustainability: a phrase used widely in industry and now gaining traction within the NHS.

But how can the health and care sector be truly environmentally sustainable?

That’s the challenge facing Kathy Scott, who as well as serving as Deputy Chief Executive of the Yorkshire and Humber AHSN is also the Network’s lead on environmental sustainability, and Dr Nick Watts, the Chief Sustainability Officer for the NHS.

Our reporter Nigel Thompson met up with both at ConfedExpo in Liverpool to ask them more about the challenges faced and the early signs of sustainability success.

A treatment for patients at high risk of having a heart attack or stroke is now available for prescribing in primary care, yet uptake among GPs has been slow. 

Inclisiran was approved for use by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in late 2021 and AHSNs are helping local teams to develop different models of Inclisiran delivery.

Inclisiran bridges a gap in the lipid management pathway, offering an additional medication to use alongside statins and other lipid-lowering products used in primary care. Trials show that when a patient is receiving statins as part of their treatment and is prescribed Inclisiran, their low-density lipoprotein level (ldl) reduces by around 50 per cent.

In this episode, Dr Phil Jennings explores the science behind Inclisiran and the evidence of its effectiveness. His guests are Professor Kausik Ray, Professor of Public Health, Honorary Consultant Cardiologist and Director of Imperial Centre for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at Imperial College London; and to Dr Carl Deaney, a GP in Lincolnshire. 

This podcast has been created to inform healthcare professionals only, to support them to roll-out the treatment.

For entrepreneurs looking to spread the word about their innovation, the NHS Innovation Accelerator are now looking for new businesses to work with.

From 1 September 2022 the organisation, commissioned by the Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) at NHS England and NHS Improvement, are welcoming applications from people keen to spread their good ideas further.

The criteria is straightforward and the benefits are significant.

Our reporter Nigel Thompson met up with Suzanne Ali-Hassan deputy director of the NHS Innovation Accelerator at ConfedExpo in Liverpool, and also heard the experiences of an innovator who has already become part of the programme.

A system which can analyse a CT scan of a heart within four hours is helping patients to avoid unnecessary procedures and clinicians to quickly identify the right treatment.

The HeartFlow FFRCT Analysis helps clinicians to determine, vessel by vessel, both the extent of an artery’s narrowing and the impact that the narrowing has on blood flow to the heart.

HeartFlow is supported by the NHS Accelerated Access Collaborative’s MedTech Funding Mandate and AHSNs are helping to increase its use across the country.

In this episode, Dr Phil Jennings visits the first centre to use HeartFlow, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, to meet Consultant Cardiologist Dr Tim Fairbairn.

Useful links:

About the MedTech Funding Mandate: https://www.england.nhs.uk/aac/what-we-do/how-can-the-aac-help-me/the-medtech-funding-mandate/

About HeartFlow: https://www.heartflow.com/uk/

How the AHSN Network supports the MedTech Funding Mandate: https://www.ahsnnetwork.com/accelerated-access-collaborative/medtech-funding-mandate

To contact our podcast guest Consultant Cardiologist Dr Tim Fairbairn, email [email protected].