NHS Innovations South West

Nigel Harris is a clinical scientist at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases Trust in Bath, locally known as the Mineral Hospital. He has been involved in the development of a neck collar, initially targeted at people with unstable neck with rheumatoid arthritis and also with applications in the emergency market for immobilizing people. And also for posture support on other products.

How has NISW helped you?
I think the qualities that we’ve most appreciated have been an understanding of the processes involved. Because when you’re starting out it can be quite difficult to know where to take things. I think the other thing that we’ve found beneficial is that the Trust’s senior management have been reassured by the advice given and know that that has been a reliable source. As a result they have felt more comfortable about letting the development team progress and take things forward.

Can you give any specific examples of how NISW has helped you?
We 'd had some initial shortlists of manufacturers who we thought we might be able to approach. And following advice the Hub were able to take that list and expand on it and draw on other resources who do some further market research and present us back with a more refined (better targeted) hit list of firms who we could approach to take on the product.

How should the innovation Hub change the innovation landscape within the NHS?
I think the Hub will help to raise awareness of what can be done and the potential opportunities and rewards. I think also because there is knowledge that there is help on hand in a relatively straightforward way (or easily contactable) means that innovators are more likely to make use of that facility. To have a personal contact and are able to access that readily, I think it makes things much more accessible and makes the whole process a lot easier.

How do you hope the Hub will be able to influence innovation within the Trusts?
I think that the Hub will be able to emphasise (other than long term benefits from R&D) that there are also reasonably short and medium term benefits and that if innovations are properly exploited that this can eventually be a source of revenue for the Trust.

How do you think the Hub’s services might be improved?
We’ve had tremendous support from the Hub and it’s difficult to identify any areas where they might have done more or how they might have changed things. I think as we are moving towards working with a commercial partner it will be useful towards the end of the project (and it could be done form the start) for the Hub to set out exactly what ways they can help. And what the process and time-scales will be and then make it clear what the stages in the development and the end point will be. Because there could be a situation where its unclear exactly what that end point will be.

Where are you with your innovation and how has NISW helped so far?
The Hub were able to advise us that indeed the concept was worth protecting and were able to point us towards a patent agent who would then work with us to take that forward and register that provisional patent.  And once that process had taken place, then the Hub were able to help us draw up a shortlist of targets: potential industrial partners who we could approach and were able to make the first contact with those partners to set up meetings at which we could showcase the product. And they were able to advise us on how to prepare for that meeting and set up the relative safeguards that needed to be in place for that meeting such as non-disclosure agreements and things like that.

How effective do you find NISW’s approach which utilises Trust-based innovation leaders?
I think having somebody embedded within the organisation provides a better starting point because personal relationships are really quite important. And if it’s somebody embedded within an organisation, those relationships are set up. So it’s not somebody from outside who has then got to come in. In our case it did take a little while to work out where the Hub was coming from and establish that partnership working. So clearly having somebody embedded within the organisation, you don’t have that step. I think also additional advantages are of course the person within the organisation has a better understanding of how the organisation works. So if there are particular aspects peculiar or unique in that situation they will be aware of that. And I think also, being an innovator themselves, they will understand perhaps some of the frustrations and some of the downsides that might be involved in the process. It does take time and it can seem like a long time when nothing very much happens. Your waiting for things to come back from the patent agent or for a manufacturer to respond or waiting to get together for the next steering group meeting. It does take time.

As an Innovator, what would you look for in a TIL (Trust-based Innovation Leader)?
As an innovator I would want to have confidence in that person (in their knowledge.) It’s reassuring to know that they have followed the same route perhaps and that they’ve also been involved in innovation and understand some of the frustrations and pitfalls that might be associated with that.

I would also look for someone to be able to spend time (as needed). When I need support I’d need to know that they’re at the end of the phone  and that I wouldn’t have to wait weeks to be able to get hold of them and arrange a meeting, so that accessibility. I think what surprised us in this work is that very quickly you can move from a what might perhaps be a research discussion, or a network meeting, into a commercial arena where things start to become commercially sensitive. And you don’t want to have to wait weeks in order to resume that discussion. So to be able to have somebody on hand, where you say,

“OK, I can’t answer this now but I will be able to get back to you next week with a colleague, or having taken the appropriate advice.”

I think that can make a big difference.