Publications

This independent report was commissioned by the six academic health science networks (AHSNs) responsible for spreading health innovation in the East Midlands; Kent, Surrey and Sussex; the North West Coast (the Innovation Agency); South London (Health Innovation Network); the West of England; Yorkshire & Humber. The views and conclusions in the report are the author’s own

Growing our network by Dr Liz Mear and Gideon Ben-Tovim It is a time of expansion for the Innovation Agency, which befits springtime as we see the first shoots of the new season.

The Patient Safety Collaborative ambition is for improvement to extend across the entire healthcare system in England, so that care is safer for all.

EiSIT has been commissioned by NHS England and was developed by the Innovation Agency (the Academic Health Science Network for the North West Coast). The work was also supported by the Good Governance Institute. EiSIT is accompanied by an infographic, developed by Bayzian, an Economic Intelligence Unit, which is designed to promote the use of research evidence in NHS commissioning decisions and ‘signposts’ commissioners to relevant NHS and other evidence resources.

It is four years since the Berwick Report made a pledge on behalf of the NHS of ‘a promise to learn, a commitment to act’ on patient safety. One of the outcomes of that report was the establishment by NHS Improvement of the Patient Safety Collaborative programme, the biggest patient safety initiative ever undertaken in this country

We have five goals to achieve our core purpose, which is: To transform health, generate economic growth and advance technology

2014/2015 was a very successful year for the North West Coast Academic Health Science Network (NWCAHSN). We are often asked about our Unique Selling Point (USP) as an AHSN, and this year has shown this to be our ability to build strong partnerships and take a trusted partner role, forge collaborations to overcome barriers to innovation, enable action and support system integration

This has been a year of establishing the systems, procedures and entity of the North West Coast Academic Health Science Network. We have focussed very much on working in partnership with members and stakeholders to ensure that we meet their needs and the needs of our residents, patients and service users across our wide geographical footprint, which includes Cheshire, Merseyside, South Cumbria and Lancashire - beautiful coastal, vibrant city and countryside regions, which lead to the enhancement of physical and mental health.

Over 8 in 10 stakeholders (82%) recommend working with the Innovation Agency (slide 42). This is significantly higher (+19 percentage points (pp)) than 2015. Only 1 in 10 say they would not recommend working with the AHSN, and a further 9% say they are unsure.

This has been a year of building on the work we started in 2013/2014, establishing systems and supporting the development of strong partnerships. We believe that the unique selling point of our region is its ability to work in partnership and collaborate. This has been evidenced by the successful bidding of five of our areas to become Vanguard Sites.

The NICE Implementation Collaborative (NIC) was established in 2012 as a partnership between the NHS, the life sciences industry, healthcare professional bodies, and key health organisations, including NICE and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, which have committed to work together to understand, analyse, and overcome the challenges and tensions to implementation and widespread adoption of NICE recommendations. NHS England is one of the founding partners of the NIC and provides some of its core funding. The NIC underpins NHS England’s commitment to work in collaboration with industry to address challenges and tensions to adoption and variations in uptake.

The Innovation Agency’s aim is to spread innovations which can improve the quality of health care and reduce costs. We act as honest brokers, mobilising expertise and knowledge across the NHS, academia and industry to help improve lives, save money and drive economic growth through innovation. Our regional partnerships are helping to deliver system change locally in line with the Five Year Forward View; and we are supporting the life sciences economy as reinforced by the Accelerated Access Review.

What are Academic Health Science Networks? We are often asked this question and it is a challenge to describe our role as catalysts and collaborators on innovation in health and care. This is one reason why we have taken the step of renaming ourselves the Innovation Agency, to emphasis our core purpose of being an agent of change through innovation. We proudly remain an Academic Health Science Network, one of 15 set up by NHS England who work together nationally as well as within our own regions. This will be reflected in our branding and in all our communications.

HIGHLIGHTS OF 2016/17

We are catalysts for the spread of innovation at pace and scale - improving health, generating economic growth and helping facilitate change across whole health and social care economies • We connect regional networks of NHS and academic organisations, local authorities, the third sector and industry - responding to the diverse needs of our patients and populations through partnership and collaboration • We create the right environment for relevant industries to work with the health and social care system