Innovation Agency

Dr Julia Reynolds of the Innovation Agency describes some of the innovations in respiratory care introduced in the North West Coast, including an NHS Test Bed to explore technology that supports COPD patients; and the challenge to ensure the best technology is widely adopted.

Dr Jennifer Hoyle, Consultant and Occupational Lung Disease Lead, Northern Care Alliance More than a quarter of all COPD admissions in Greater Manchester are for flu. Dr Hoyle and her colleagues explored how to overcome the barriers to taking the flu vaccination and launched a project to promot uptake in secondary care settings. The project is proving so successful the team now plans to extend it to all respiratory outpatient clinics.

Kate Burnett, Head of School, Physician Associates Scheme, Health Education England @NHSHEE_Nwest The health service struggles to value and empower its workforce, but a new breed of healthcare professional – the physician associate – may be at least part of the solution. Physician associates work to the medical model and the skills and attitude they bring may deliver tangible improvements in care.

Dr Binita Kane, Health Innovation Manchester and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, speaking at the Innovation Agency's 21st Ecosystem event.  The devolution project in Greater Manchester allowed for a reassessment of priorities. Health Innovation Manchester worked with health and care and industry partners to determine those priorities: the system agreed that a radical shift was needed in how COPD patients are managed and a move from doctor-centric secondary care models to continuous community-based team support.

Lisa Slack, Head of Quality, Contracts and Safeguarding Adults, Lancashire County Council @LancashireCC The county council’s quality strategy aims to ensure there is equitable choice of high-quality provision and an increase in ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ care homes: that requires effective leadership and improved relationships with providers.

Colin Capper, Head of Research Development and Evaluation, Alzheimer’s Society @CapperColin Involving care homes in research may help reduce the lag between breakthroughs in the lab and the adoption of new technology on the front line. We also hear about Jelly Drops, sweets that contain 90 per cent water that can keep people with dementia hydrated.

Peter Almond, Programme Manager, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust  @Mersey_Care While telehealth has only recently been introduced in the Mersey Care area, patient-reported outcomes are promising: there has been a 40 per cent reduction in the need to visit hospital or a GP. Now a new model of provision sees community matrons, care home staff and GPs joining forces to deliver better care. 

Alison Smith, RN, and Emma James, RN, Wirral Community NHS Foundation Trust @wirrallct Teletriage is a 24-hour system offering clinical support to care homes. Its benefits are clear, and include a 78 per cent reduction in NHS 111 calls from care homes. Care home feedback has also been positive, with 93 per cent of staff saying its use has improved the care experience for residents.

Nathan Downing, Lead Associate, Business Strategy and Service Transformation at TSA, and Gerry Hodgson, CEO of software company Cascade3d @TSAVoice Nathan Downing says the TSA is the representative body for technology enabled care (TEC) services. One of its guiding principles is to focus on people’s needs and how technology can meet them, rather than focus on the capabilities of the technology itself. Gerry Hodgson describes how the experience of his father, who is in his 90s, has been improved by technology-enabled care.

Rachael Forbister, TECS Programme Manager @RForbister A number of initiatives, including the introduction of the National Early Warning Score (NEWS) assessment in care homes, and the use of the ‘blue box’ toolkit, has prompted a significant fall in the number of non-elective hospital admissions in Sunderland.

Data as the key to transforming healthcare: how can everyone win? Professor George Crooks, Chief Executive Officer, The Digital Health and Care Innovation Centre  @dhiscotland

The secret of general practice in the North West: e-consultations Dr Chris Mimnagh, GP informatician, Wingate Medical Centre, Liverpool @chrismimnagh

Terry Whalley, Director of Delivery, Cheshire and Merseyside Health & Care Partnership @TerryWhalley

Lancashire and South Cumbria - GP digital retention Wayne Kirkham, Primary Care Senior Programme Manager, NHS England and NHS Improvement (North West)

ECO 19: Care closer to home Alan Davies, Director of Digital, Innovation Agency @innovationnwc

Una Davey, Network Project Manager, ECHAlliance @una_davey

The use of point of care testing to deliver tier one diagnostics anywhere Dr Martin Myers MBE, PhD, FRCPath, Consultant Clinical Biochemist, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Masood Nazir, GP and Associate CCIO for Primary Care Digital Transformation Programmes, NHSX  @Masood_Online