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NHS Innovation Accelerator launches search for world’s top innovators

The Oxford Academic Health Science Network is working in partnership with NHS England and the AHSN Network to lead a new search for the world’s best health innovators to help improve patients’ lives.

The NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) aims to improve lives through fast-tracking cutting edge, low cost innovations to the forefront of the NHS. In its first year, the NIA supported 17 fellows to introduce high impact, tried-and-tested innovations – including apps, IT platforms, new models of care – into the NHS.  This has resulted in a rapid roll-out of innovations to 68 NHS organisations, benefitting thousands of patients and delivering over £8m funding.

Do you have an evidence-based innovation that will improve health outcomes at lower cost than current standard practice? Is your innovation ready to be scaled across the NHS? Are you passionate about sharing the learnings about your experiences? If so, the NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) would like to hear from you.

Innovators who are interested can find out more and apply online via NHS England’s website. Applicants have until 1 August to submit their application.

NIA 2016 aims to find eight of the world’s top innovators to be supported to spread their innovations further and faster across the NHS.   Innovators are being sought with new products, services, solutions or new ways of delivering care that address disease prevention, early detection and long-term conditions.

Run by NHS England and UCLPartners in collaboration with the country’s Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs), the NHS Innovation Accelerator has enabled clinicians to deliver care more efficiently and has empowered patients to combat, manage and understand their own illnesses better.

Dr Liz Mear, Chair of the AHSN Network, said: “Health and industry innovators have an absolutely central role to play in helping the NHS respond to its challenges – coming up with great products, services, technologies and care models that can transform services for the benefit of patients and enable efficiencies.  It’s well known to be difficult for entrepreneurs to access the support they need to roll out their great ideas. The support of AHSNs and the NHS Innovation Accelerator has shown that we can speed up innovation in the NHS.”

Innovations currently supported by the NIA include:

  • A 24-hour online self-management system

MyCOPD – an online system, available as an app, which allows patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) to self-manage their condition on any device, from any place, at any time.  MyCOPD offers patients expert advice and education on how to use their medication properly and how to perform special exercises designed to improve lung function.

  • A whole hospital digital platform

Nervecentre – a digital platform that enables doctors and nurses to carry out patient observations, handovers and clinical assessments from their smartphones is now used in over 30 trusts in the UK.  Independent research identified a 70% reduction in clinical incidents such as patients deteriorating because of a delay in finding the right doctor and a 100% reduction in avoidable deaths out-of-hours.

  • An electronic recruitment and research pairing service

Join Dementia Research – an online paring service covering the whole of the UK, which matches people interested in participating in dementia research with suitable studies. Join Dementia Research now has 17,433 people registered with more than 5000 people enrolled in clinical trials – a 900% increase since Piers Kotting joined the programme.