NHS Innovations South West

The Department of Health has now conducted a review of its arm’s-length bodies (ALBs)

The report of the review sets out proposals for ALBs in the health and social care sector.

For more information on this review, or to download it click here

Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley today set out the Government's ambitious plans to reform the NHS during this Parliament and for the long-term. The White Paper ‘Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS’ published today, details how power will be devolved from Whitehall to patients and professionals.

To read the full press release and download the White Paper click here

Vernacare’s new single-use anaesthetic safety tray will help reduce operating theatre error and advance standards of infection prevention.
The Vernatray has individual channels to ensure the correct alignment of syringes and has a separate storage area for ampoules and sharps. It is intended to replace plastic and stainless steel trays where the medication is stored in one single compartment - making it difficult to locate the relevant syringe.

The Vernatray has been created by medical products manufacturer Vernacare In partnership with NHS Innovations South West, who devised the concept with theatre and engineering staff at Poole Hospital and worked with other South West Trusts to produce early prototypes.

Chris Sawyer, Business Development Manager, NHS Innovations South West, said: “The Vernatray has been designed by theatre staff for theatre staff. The original idea and thinking came from anaesthetists who identified the need to increase safety by organising medication better. Vernacare has taken their concepts to a new level and created a single-use tray that meets the safety needs of modern healthcare practice. “

Paula Cockcroft, Senior Product Manager for Vernacare said: “The Vernatray contains six individual syringe channels, including two large channels for 30ml+ syringes together with a storage area for ampoules and some sharps bins. It makes it easier for theatre staff to locate the relevant equipment and reduces the risk of incorrect medication being administered. Staff find the Surgical Safety Checklist easier to perform, which includes confirmation of the formal inspection of the anaesthetic equipment, medications and patient’s anaesthetic risk. In addition, the single-use pulp avoids infection risks associated with re-using plastic and stainless steel receptacles and saves cleaning time as the biodegradable pulp can be simply disposed of in clinical waste or via maceration."

According to the The Association for Perioperative Practice (AFPP), the majority of critical incidents in anaesthesia arise from human error and it reported 128,000 patient safety incidents from surgical specialities from October 2006 to September 2007.

The patented tray has been designed and tested by Vernacare with detailed input from front-line clinicians. Theatre staff from four NHS Trusts and delegates to the AFPP Exhibition helped to evaluate an initial prototype. The design was then modified to reflect their views, and a second prototype tray created in single-use pulp.

Evaluation of the Vernatray has been carried out at three Trusts and one independent hospital, with 99% of clinicians reporting that they found it easier to correctly identify labels on syringes and 100% of respondents stating that the syringes were stable in the tray.

Paula Cockcroft added: “We have listened carefully to the feedback from Operating and Theatre Department Practitioners, Anaesthetic Consultants and Assistants, Theatre Team Leaders and Practice Educators, together with Infection Prevention specialists, and reflected their suggestions in the final design.”

To register for free samples of the Vernatray or set up a trial, please email vcorders@vernagroup.com or contact Vernacare on 01204 555999

A new fast-track procedure for approving international patent applications that will cut waiting times by more than a year has been launched today.

Prime Minister David Cameron announced the new scheme during his speech in Leeds, which set out his vision for transforming the UK economy.

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has introduced the scheme to help tackle the worldwide backlog of patent applications, which costs the global economy an estimated £7.6 billion a year. The UK is among the first to introduce such a fast-track scheme.

The Prime Minister said: "Today we announce a new fast-track system for international patents to reduce the global backlog which stifles growth and enterprise and costs the global economy £7.6 billion for every year patents are delayed."

Intellectual Property Minister Baroness Wilcox welcomed the announcement.

To read the whole article click here

To download the pdf on Getting Your Patent Granted More Quickly click here

The new Ministerial team at the Department of Health has been announced by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.

For more information click here.

The NHS Institute for Health Research plans to set up an ‘Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure’ (NOCRI). 

For further information please click on the following link click here or download the pdf from the Download Centre.

 

The Health Innovation Challenge Fund (HICF) is a £100 million, five-year parallel funding partnership between the Wellcome Trust and the Department of Health. The funders are collaborating to stimulate the creation of innovative healthcare products, technologies and interventions, and facilitate their development for the benefit of patients in the NHS and beyond. The HICF will have a succession of thematic calls for proposals, each selected to focus on unmet needs in healthcare relevant to the NHS, and will support innovative developments that are within three to five years of launch or adoption.

For more information to find out about funding opportunities please click on the following link www.wellcome.ac.uk/hicf/nisw

A new Blueprint to put innovation at the heart of healthcare delivery has just been launched by Lord Drayson and Lord Darzi at Imperial College London.

For more information on the Office for Life Science (OLS) Blueprint please click here.

The NHS Technology Adoption Centre (NTAC) invites NHS Trusts / PCTs to apply to host 'Technology Implementation Projects'. These projects involve Trusts working with NTAC to implement innovative but proven healthcare technologies into their organisations. The centre has selected four projects to begin in host trusts in autumn 2009 / winter 2010. Grants will be available to participating Trusts and PCTs.
Following an excellent response from a call to the medical technology industry and NHS for project proposals, the NHS Technology Adoption Centre has selected 4 technologies to be the basis of 4 Technology Implementation Projects. These include:

• Ambulance Information System
• Echo Scanner for Liver Fibrosis using Elastography
• Ioflupane I123 (DatSCAN for the diagnosis of dementia with Lewy Bodies)
• Midstream Urine Collection Device

Participating NHS Trusts and PCTs have the opportunity to support the implementation of a clinically proven healthcare technology into their organisation and work with NTAC to assess the adoption and integration issues of the technology. At the end of each project a "How to why to Guide" will be produced to support, where appropriate the wider adoption of the technology across the NHS.
Launch Date: 29 June 2009
Closing Date: 7 Sept 2009

Please click below for further information

www.technologyadoptioncentre.nhs.uk/

Top surgeon Lord Darzi has resigned as Health Minister. Downing Street have confirmed that he will remain as a government advisor, but he now wishes to devote more time to his clinical role and academic research.

Please click on the link http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8150808.stm for more details.
 

Over 5,000 people attended this two day Innovation event held at the ExCel Centre, London Docklands.

The NHS Innovations stand attracted a lot of interest over the two days it was extremely busy. A great deal of interest was received from not only employees of NHS Trusts, but other exhibitors and companies attending the exhibition. Chief Executives and Innovation Managers were on hand to answer any questions relating to the activities of the 9 Hubs in England, and to discuss the innovations that were on show.


Lord Darzi and David Nicholson, Chief Executive of the NHS visited the stand and spent time talking to some of the Hubs Chief Executives. They showed great interest in the variety of innovations displayed.

The Innovation House was also visited by Lord Darzi and David Nicholson. The House proved to be an extremely successful and popular part of EXPO. The BeSmart cart that was on display from MBB Connections Ltd & the South West Hub, received great interest and also arranged to engage in further commercial discussions with a company in Japan.

Everyone attending EXPO had the opportunity to listen to a wide variety of main stage speakers. The speaker programme included world leading clinicians, innovators, global CEO’s and Government Ministers. These proved to be extremely popular and it was standing room only for many! Television screens were located throughout EXPO for those who were unable to get a seat near to the session.


An assortment of free seminars ran throughout the two days which were also well attended. Each seminar lasted approximately 45 minutes and varied from a play on genetics to war games and talks from leading innovators and health care experts.

On Day 1; 45 minute seminars were led by Chief Executives of the Hubs and they included a variety of topics such as ‘Embedding Innovation and Sustaining Cultural Change’, ‘Demand Led Innovation’, Partnering for Innovative Solutions’ and ‘Valuing Staff and Harnessing Intellectual Capital’. All these seminars were well attended and received extremely positive feed-back.

EXPO 2009 was a tremendous success and a very positive and informative two days. There was a very clear message that innovation has become a major part of the NHS working life, companies are keen to work with the NHS and see technology adopted and diffused for patient benefit. The NHS Innovations Hubs will play an important role in ensuring that the best innovations are spread throughout the NHS and that frontline staff continue to have a conduit for wide engagement in the innovation agenda.

Medical Devices Technology Int’l (MDTi), in association with the RCN and NHS Innovation Hubs, is to “Showcase” medical devices based entirely on nurse and patient led innovation on 11 May 2009 at the Harrogate Conference Centre. These medical devices are “simple” to use and understand but bring about real improvement to the frontline care of patients whilst helping to reduce infection rates and costs within the NHS.
Whilst most thinking is negative in the current recessionary climate, this has not prevented forward thinking RCN Nurses and patients seeing an opportunity to bring about real changes to improving patient care. They are doing this through innovative thinking leading to the development of new medical devices that help reduce infection rates and enable more care to be undertaken within patients’ homes, saving the NHS millions each year.
This year RCN Congress clips onto NHS Innovators by showcasing the value and importance of Nurses, Allied Healthcare Professionals and Patients in identifying opportunities for new products that can bring real frontline benefits. As an example, the latest NHS “Innovator” and RCN member Senior Staff Nurse Sam McDonald of St Austell Community Hospital, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly PCT with the ‘IV-Sty’ clip based on his original idea.
The ‘IV-Sty’ clip has been designed so that when giving Intravenous fluids it prevents the ‘piggy back’ IV secondary line from separating from the primary line so improving infection control and reducing the risk of needle-stick injuries to staff and patients.
Accidental needle-stick injuries are the main injuries in the UK relating to the use of “sharps”; there is estimated to be about 150,000 such injuries each year. Nurses have the highest rate of sharps injuries amongst health care workers. The risk of infection depends on the pathogen immune status of the worker and the severity of the injury. It is estimated that an injury caused by a “sharps” will result in disease in 3 to 5 instances in 1000 in HIV cases, 3 in 1000 for Hepatitis B and 20 to 50 instances in 1000 for Hepatitis C.
A “sharp’s” injury causes stress and anxiety to workers. It can result in time off work and there is the issue of compensation currently estimated at a cost to the NHS of £3.5million per year.
With the help of NHS Innovation Hub South West, Sam McDonald’s idea was protected, prototyped and tested and licensed to Wolverhampton based medical device manufacturer, Medical Devices Technology International (MDTI).

Congratulations to Charlie Byrne an employee of Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust on being the latest Innovator of the Quarter winner.

Charlie who is an Orthotist at the Trust was nominated by Stacey Finn, Clinical Scientist for his idea for a podiatry training aid.

Maria Hassard, Chief Executive for NHS Innovations South West, presented Charlie with a framed certificate and a cheque for £500. Stacey Finn was presented an iPod shuffle for nominating Charlie.

Following the presentation there was an informal but extremely informative innovation event for the Executive Directors of the Trust. The event gave a taster of all the outstanding and varied ideas that are being produced by employees within the Trust. Several of the innovators attended and demonstrated their ideas with working prototypes. Matthew Kershaw, Chief Executive of Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust who attended the event said “I was not only impressed by the winner of the South West Innovator of the Quarter, our own Charlie Byrne, but also by the clear enthusiasm and energy from all the innovators present. Building on the excellent work already completed we are now supporting the innovation ideas of staff from across the Trust. This is an essential element of how we continue to improve services we provide to our patients, and how the Trust may also benefit by taking these products to market. For both of these reasons I am very supportive of the innovation work and will continue to encourage it strongly.”

Debbie Postlethwaite, Trust Innovation Leader for Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, who attended the presentation and was responsible for the innovation event, will now work closely with Charlie in taking his idea forward.

If one of your colleagues has come up with a good idea or a solution to a problem you face each day in your work within the NHS they too could win £500, and you could win a reward for nominating them.

For further details, or to submit an idea, visit www.nisw.co.uk. You can also contact your local Trust Innovation Leader or the offices of NHS Innovations South West. All these contact details are available on our website.

Salisbury Specialist Palliative Care Services were delighted when they heard that they were runners-up in the Publications & Media category at the fourth National Technology Awards. held at the Magic Circle, London on the 3rd December 2008.

Their DVD ‘Last Offices Care and Respect of the Dying’ was produced and acted by members of the Salisbury Hospice staff, and is an excellent short film to highlight best practice to the care given to a person who has died, and their next of kin.

The people involved in the producing and making of the DVD are Sister Helena Bridgman, Sam Goss, Sister Rosemary Cox, Staff Nurse Jean Grant, Sister Ann Colmer and Ann Cutler.

The prize giving event was hosted by Bernard Crump, CEO of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. Dame Yve Buckland, Chair, presented the prizes. Upon receipt of their award the staff at the Hospice said “We are delighted with this award and appreciate the support and encouragement with this venture”.

The DVD costs £20.00 plus £2.00 p+p and is available to order on line at www.ennovations.co.uk or by e-mailing info@salisburyhospice.co.uk and requesting a booking form to purchase ‘Last Offices Care and Respect of the Dying’

A new online system which helps NHS organisations communicate with their staff, launched by two junior doctors from Bristol, has won backing from University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust.

The DocCom project started three years’ ago, originally to tackle communications problems between NHS Trusts and Deaneries and their junior doctors. DocCom is a portal combining web, mobile, email and social networking technology to target appropriate communication to relevant people at the right time. It provides a single point of access for information for junior doctors for their training, development and work and allows a mechanism for them to feed back to their organisation. It also allows doctors to communicate with each other.

Founders Dr Jonathan Bloor and Dr Jonathan Shaw hit on the idea of setting up the system when they saw for themselves the challenges facing NHS organisations, which need to keep in regular contact with a highly mobile workforce.

Dr Bloor explains: “There are more than 50,000 junior doctors in the UK who are employed on a semi-permanent basis and rotate between hospital specialties, hospital sites and between Trusts as frequently as every three months. They have no base and are a mobile work force. Acute Trusts and Deaneries struggle to keep tabs on where their doctors are what they are doing and how to communicate with them. This is compounded by the complexity of the NHS and the multiple bodies involved in the management and training of doctors.

“We surveyed all the medical directors of acute Trusts in England and had a 50% response rate. 90 per cent of respondents said they could not communicate effectively with their junior doctors.

“This communication problem really impacts on efficiency and patient care and our vision is to create an NHS wide communication network linking NHS organisations with their staff. Although this system was originally designed to aid communication with junior doctors, it can be used to improve links with all staff.”

Following a successful pilot for junior doctors at University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and, with the help of the Trust and NHS Innovations South West, a spin-out company was formed with the Trust as a major shareholder.

Dr Graham Rich, Chief Executive of University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, says: “This is an important project that I believe will benefit the wider NHS. It has changed and improved how we communicate with the junior doctors for the benefit of our patients.”

The DocCom portal has now been successfully introduced at the Severn Deanery.

Mr Davinder Sandhu, Dean, Severn Deanery, adds: “We chose DocCom because their system was designed by trainees themselves with a special emphasis on communication between trainees.”

For more information please contact Adrian Ruck, Media Relations Manager, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, or the press office, on 0117 374 3629.

NHS Innovations South West Annual Review 2008 can now be viewed and downloaded by visiting the Download Centre on this site.

Resounding success for NISW Innovation Day

NHS Innovations South West recently held an innovation day at Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

The ‘open forum’ was a resounding success with a constant flow of staff throughout the day. There was considerable interest shown in the innovation agenda and particularly the process of taking an idea and developing it into a real solution as well as all the prototypes and case studies that were on display.

It quickly became clear that the Trust has many innovative staff that had a wide range of questions and enquiries. In fact one of the key results of the day was the large number of ideas that were submitted to NISW to evaluate. These projects are now in the process of being assessed by Chris Sawyer, Business Development Manager for NISW, many of which we believe will develop into full projects and will become commercial solutions available to the whole NHS.
 
Dr Christopher Miller, Dorset County Hospital R&D Manager, was very pleased with the event. He went on to say “We were delighted with the response to this event and it has provided a great way of raising the profile of Innovation at our Trust. It was particularly rewarding to see such a wide range of staff showing an interest in innovation. We managed to get the message across that this area of work is for all staff in the NHS and not just those working in technical areas”

NISW look forward to holding more innovation days in the coming months.

If your NHS Trust is interested in hosting an event, or you would like to find out more about NISW Innovations Days then contact us on 01722 326006 or e-mail us at info@nisw.co.uk

“This event was excellent I would value more of the same” was one of the many positive comments received from delegates.


BIOMED BUSINESSES had the opportunity at this popular event to discuss the importance of collaboration and funding.

The message to delegates from seasoned entrepreneur Dr Jim Murray, co-founder of bio-giant Shire Pharmaceuticals and now Chief Executive Officer of Bristol-based Hunter-Fleming Ltd was very clear. Businesses and research institutions across the life sciences and healthcare industry in the South West must communicate and collaborate more effectively with each other if the sector is to prosper.

“There is a huge pool of talent in this region – but also a need for better communications between academia and business,” said Dr Murray, who was chairing the event, organised by the region’s biotechnology network BioApproaches South West in conjunction with the South West of England Regional Development Agency, NHS Innovations South West, UK Trade & Investment and the Enterprise Europe Network.

Some 100 delegates were at The Innovation Centre at the University of Exeter to hear speakers on a range of topics, from innovation and training to business strategy and financing, with open floor discussions and case study presentations from individual businesses.

They included Dr Mark Richardson, Vice President R&D at Smith & Nephew Wound Management, who delivered a keynote address on ‘Open Innovation’. He stressed the need for companies to first identify “an unarticulated customer need” before trying to develop a product or service. “It’s no good having a ‘solution’ if there is no ‘need’,” he emphasised.

The other keynote speaker was Peter McPartland of Nucleus Biomed, who provided an illuminating picture of the current investment environment for early-stage biomed companies. “It’s survival of the fittest,” he declared.

One of the region’s success stories is Chippenham-based Vectura, which specialises in inhalation devices and formulation technology. Finance director Anne Hyland traced the company’s development from its birth as a spin-out from Bath University in the 1980s to its evolution today as a key player in the growing ‘respiration’ market with growing revenues from global licensing agreements.

Alasdair MacDonald, of Telemedic Systems in Taunton, told how he resurrected his remote medical diagnosis and monitoring business after an aborted listing in 2001. He paid tribute to the South RDA Innovation Team, UK Trade & Investment and the South West Angel Investor Network for their support.

Other speakers included Professor Nick Talbot, Head of Biosciences at the University of Exeter, Sasha Karakusevic, a consultant dental surgeon who is Director of Performance and Development at South Devon Healthcare Trust, and Dr Zahid Latif, of the Technology Strategy Board.

The event also featured a range of practical ‘surgeries’ and University tours around the Henry Wellcome Centre for Biocatalysis, the Bioimaging Centre, Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Exeter Advanced Technologies (X-AT) and the Multiphoton Imaging and Spectroscopy Laboratory.

Maria Hassard, Chief Executive of NHS Innovations South West, had no doubts about the value of the event. She said: “The point of this is to involve industry, academia and the NHS in an exchange forum where they can share ideas, opinions and information. We all need a mechanism for this process.”

Dr Pauline Lee, Manager of BioApproaches South West, added: ““Feedback has been excellent and BioApproaches South West will continue with our partners to facilitate communication and collaboration across the industry in this region. We chose as our theme ‘research, partnerships and finance for business growth’ because they are the issues at the heart of this sector. We used feedback from a previous event to help shape this event taking into consideration the lifesciences and healthcare business community’s needs.
 

The National Technology Awards are given in recognition of leading edge technology innovations from NHS staff. Each year over 500 people, across all disciplines of the NHS, put forward their ideas to regional competitions, run by the NHS Innovation Hubs, and the best ideas from those are submitted to the National Awards.

This year, 30 nominated regional finalists competed for the national awards in four categories:

Therapeutics & Diagnostics
Medical Devices & Equipment (inc Assistive Technologies)
ICT/software
Publications & Media (DVDs, web, etc.)

Winners received £4000 and runners-up £2,000. All prize money is used to further develop the innovations.

The regional NHS Innovation Hubs support the development and commercialisation of Healthcare technology innovations from NHS staff across England. The Hubs offer legal, commercial and sometimes financial support to NHS innovators. In 2007 over 1,000 innovative ideas were submitted to the Innovation Hubs from NHS staff. The National Innovation Centre coordinates the work of the Hubs and makes the awards. www.nic.nhs.uk

The award event was held at the Wellcome Trust in London. Prizes were presented by Professor Heinz Wolff of Brunel University and by entrepreneur and innovator of the wind-up torch and radio, Trevor Baylis. Ben Bradshaw, Minister of State for Health, also attended the event.

Guests included senior managers from winning NHS Trusts, from the Department of Health, Innovation Hub staff and the finalists.

Although several projects from the South West were finalists and received very positive feedback unfortunately on this occasion none came away with the winning entry.

The National Technology Awards are given in recognition of leading edge technology innovations from NHS staff. Each year over 500 people, across all disciplines of the NHS, put forward their ideas to regional competitions, run by the NHS Innovation Hubs, and the best ideas from those are submitted to the National Awards.

This year, 30 nominated regional finalists competed for the national awards in four categories:

Therapeutics & Diagnostics
Medical Devices & Equipment (inc Assistive Technologies)
ICT/software
Publications & Media (DVDs, web, etc.)

Winners received £4000 and runners-up £2,000. All prize money is used to further develop the innovations.

The regional NHS Innovation Hubs support the development and commercialisation of Healthcare technology innovations from NHS staff across England. The Hubs offer legal, commercial and sometimes financial support to NHS innovators. In 2007 over 1,000 innovative ideas were submitted to the Innovation Hubs from NHS staff. The National Innovation Centre coordinates the work of the Hubs and makes the awards. www.nic.nhs.uk

The award event was held at the Wellcome Trust in London. Prizes were presented by Professor Heinz Wolff of Brunel University and by entrepreneur and innovator of the wind-up torch and radio, Trevor Baylis. Ben Bradshaw, Minister of State for Health, also attended the event.

Guests included senior managers from winning NHS Trusts, from the Department of Health, Innovation Hub staff and the finalists.

Unfortunately there were no winners or runners up from the South West this year although a number of South West candidates were fielded.

Roy Heath from Cornwall received a special commendation at the Food and Farming Industry Awards 2007 on Friday 16th November for Food Farming Personality of the Year. Roy’s hard work on an NHS food programme earned him the Judges Special Commendation Award.
As sustainable food procurement manager for the Cornwall Food Programme, based at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro, Roy was nominated for Food Farming Personality of the Year and short-listed with seven other finalists.
The awards ceremony, held at the House of Commons, recognised those in the food and farming industry that have promoted British food through buying from small-scale rural producers.

On receiving the award, Roy said: “It was a pleasure to compete with others in the food and farming industry that also strive to bring British produce to the forefront. I didn’t expect to win the award, so receiving a special commendation was a lovely surprise.”
Roy has worked with the NHS in Cornwall to initiate a programme that seeks to provide locally sourced, fresh produce for hospital patients. Since 2002, the programme has identified several local suppliers and growers to purchase produce from, therefore reducing ‘food miles’.
Supported by Objective One and the Soil Association, Roy Heath and Mike Pearson, project director, have forged links within Cornwall to reduce ‘carbon footprinting’ and create environmental awareness throughout the region.
Carleen Kelemen, Director of the Objective One Partnership, said: “Roy is a winner of winners for patients, local producers and the environment in Cornwall. His vision and commitment has created something special here in Cornwall which will benefit our communities and food sector for many years to come.”

Lezli Boswell, chief executive of the Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust said: “We congratulate Roy on becoming runner-up for the award. Between seven others, he’s done extremely well to receive a special accolade.”
Mike Pearson said: “We’re all proud that Roy was specially commended. His hard work and determination on the food programme should be praised, particularly for working with local suppliers to secure contracts.”
Sponsored by McDonalds, the Food Farming Personality of the Year Award was won by Peter Kendall, president of the National Farmers’ Union.
For further information please contact Kate Williams, Ashley Public Relations, on 01579 370991.
The Objective One Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has invested in the Cornwall NHS Food Programme through the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF).

Over 50 key biotechnology and medical technology organisations throughout the South West of England came together to share best practice and industry knowledge at Torquay’s Grand Hotel. The theme of the evening was “Globalisation and its impact on the South West biotechnology and medical technology industry” and local businesses are encouraged to view the film footage from the unique event online at www.bioapproaches.co.uk.

The event was organised by BioApproaches South West in conjunction with the Innovation Relay Centre South West, NHS Innovations South West, the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) and UK Trade & Investment.

The evening was a unique opportunity for participating companies and researchers to debate the globalisation theme, as well as the links between the NHS, academia and the biotechnology and medical technology industry. Maria Hassard, CEO of NHS Innovations SW said: “The inclusion of the NHS at such a forum, highlighted the start of a new and enterprising cross-sector focus on the importance of innovation and collaboration within the SW Region.” The event also launched a pioneering 18 month programme of South West sector-focused networking events, seminars and conferences.

Delegates listened to James Wilsdon, the keynote speaker and Head of Science and Innovation at Demos. He is a leading authority on science and innovation policy, and has advised governments, companies and NGOs around the world on the relationship between innovation, globalisation and sustainability. Since 2005 he has been Director of The Atlas of Ideas, which is mapping changes in the geography of science and innovation.
He announced that China is the most compelling example of the wider changes that we are seeing in the globalisation of science.

He said: “One of the most noticeable differences between the Chinese and UK Governments is the level of specialism and support the Chinese Government provides. China is a country whose leaders were mostly trained as engineers and we now see the country engaged in the largest mobilisation of resources around science that the world has seen since the early 1960s, when JFK geared the US up to compete in the space race with the Soviet Union.”

Delegates were given a unique insight into the fast-paced and ever-changing Chinese economy.
Dr Wilsdon said: “Since 1999, we’ve seen an annual 20 per cent increase in the amount of money China is spending on science – it is now the second largest spender in R&D in the world. One of the biggest drivers of innovation is the Chinese market - innovation is being pulled by the huge number of consumers who are entering the emerging Chinese middle class.”

He commented on an emerging trend in the shift of Western firms moving to China to get close to this growing pool of consumers. And, how China is opening one new power station every four days and adding 60 million new mobile phone subscribers a year to a current mobile market of 465 million people.

Ten years ago in China there were 20 multi-national R&D centres and the latest figures released by the Chinese Government reveal that there are now a staggering 1,200 centres.

Faced with this surge of innovation around the world, Dr Wilsdon said: “The South West should become an evangelist for the globalisation of knowledge by exemplifying cosmopolitan, open and collaborative principles of open science and innovation. We should also become a magnet for talent – aiming to attract the best and brightest scientists and researchers from around the world.

“The South West is a place open to the world’s best ideas and will support anyone with any ideas. We need to act now whilst China and India’s innovations are still developing and not in 10 years’ time when it is too late.”

Nigel Green, International Trade Advisor from UK Trade and Investment, informed delegates of the wealth of financial support and advice available to South West businesses. This Government organisation helps companies succeed in an increasingly global economy with a range of expert services tailored to the needs of individual businesses to maximise their international success.

He compered the evening’s events, which included a session designed to identify areas of focus for future events. The topics open for discussion during the evening focused on the perception of globalisation; business growth; access to markets; collaborative links and communication in the biotechnology and medical technology industry.

The evening concluded with an overview by Dr Gagan Lushai (Head of BioMedical, SWRDA) of the current work on a regional strategy for biotechnology and medical technology. He spoke about the South West’s immense support network that biotechnology and medical technology organisations have at their fingertips and how the region should become a springboard to launch and develop regional companies at an international level. The feedback gathered from the delegates during the evening’s discussion will now inform a series of seminars and events planned for 2008.

BioApproaches is a biotechnology support group for the South West that is funded by SWRDA and currently managed by Great Western Enterprise.
Dr Pauline Lee, Manger of BioApproaches South West, said: “The event was a huge success and a fantastic opportunity for those working in the region’s biotechnology and medical technology-related areas to come together and discuss important issues. Hearing about the ever-growing Chinese and Middle Eastern markets is a great source of inspiration for us all here in the South West. Our aims are to work together with our peers throughout the globe, to develop best practice and support and encourage the biotech and medical industry.”
To view footage from the event online, please log on to www.bioapproaches.co.uk.

UBHT is once again partnering with the University of Bristol and other sponsors to present the Enterprise Competition 2008. This annual competition is designed to inspire and generate new high-growth businesses and to stimulate entrepreneurial talent.

Building on the success of Enterprise Competition 2007 when UBHT picked up two awards (First Prize and Social Enterprise Award) UBHT fielded a number of entrants to the 2008 competition.

The first round of the competition required entrants to provide an outline of their business idea for consideration by an expert panel drawn from local government, healthcare, industry, finance, law, innovation and academia. The Expert panel reviewed 57 entries and selected 7 finalists to go through to the next stage of the competition.

The finalists included 3 projects from UBHT:

• Professor Andy Levy with Vibratip, a novel device for measuring vibration sense.
• Dr Jonathan Bloor and Dr Jon Shaw, founders of Doc Com Solutions, developing communication solutions to enable NHS Trusts to communicate more effectively with their junior doctor community.
• Jane Bailey inventor of the Bristol Stability Aid, a novel piece of manual handling equipment.

Finalists were awarded £200 each to develop their business plan and given access to the expert panel of mentors for business advice. Full business plans must be submitted by 2 June and will be followed by a presentation to the expert panel on 23 June. The winners of the competition will be announced at the prestigious Enterprise Dinner on Tuesday 24 June held in the Great Hall, Wills Memorial Building, University of Bristol.

For more information contact Rachel Clark, Trust Innovation Leader, rachel.clark@ubht.nhs.uk

In September last year, NISW launched the “Innovator of the Quarter” programme, designed to recognise and reward NHS staff for coming up with innovative potential or actual solutions to problems they encounter in their working environment. The goal is to raise the profile of innovation and promote the service that now exists for great ideas to be evaluated and where appropriate made available to the wider healthcare community. We will be running the programme in a different region each quarter and the first, Devon and Cornwall has celebrated its first winner.

The winner, Nurse Sally Bastyan (Nominated by her colleague, Pam Matten) had the idea to get staff on drug rounds to wear identifying tabards with the aim of preventing them from being interrupted during this important role. Clearly this has positive implications for the clinical process, staff focus and therefore and most importantly, patient safety.

NHS Innovations is now reviewing the feasibility of rolling this product out on a nationwide basis. If the idea proves as successful as it sounds, then there will be added safety for patient care and some rewards from the business proposal that positively impact both the inventor and the Trust.

Look out for a case study on this Innovation coming soon.

Sam McDonald, Nurse Practitioner in the Day Assessment Unit from St Austell Community Hospital, was recently congratulated by the Primary Care Trust’s Board on her invention for drip-sets which improves safety for both patients and healthcare staff. She met Board members to show them how the new device works.

Intra-Venous (IV) drip lines can be connected so that two sources of fluids both flow into one tube. This is known as a ‘Piggy-Back’. With some traditional models of IV sets the ‘Piggy-Back’ line may become disconnected because there is nothing to secure the junction of the two lines.
This is a common problem, which nurses have traditionally overcome by securing the parts with clinical tape. This improvised solution can create infection control issues, and may also increase the risks for staff of needle-stick injuries as they disconnect taped-up lines.

Sam McDonald recognised this issue and devised a means to overcome the problem. She called this an IV ‘Sty’ - as it is a means to keep the ‘Piggy-Back’ in place. NHS Innovations South West (NISW) assisted Sam in considering the various methods to secure the drips, and evolving a final solution. The result is a simple plastic clip, which attaches to the lines once they are connected, and holds them together so that they cannot separate accidentally.

It is likely that this simple device could be included as one of the items in a drip set. NISW are now finalising a license deal with a medical products manufacturer, on behalf of Cornwall & Isles of Scilly PCT.
This device overcomes the safety issues for both patients and staff associated with traditional IV sets, which are in use in many parts of the world.

Sam McDonald said: “I am really pleased that my idea has made it all the way to design stage and I hope that soon it can be used in many places for the benefit of patients and staff. I am sure that many of my nursing colleagues have faced similar problems in the past and hopefully this new device will be a real step forward in improving care.”

Carol Williams, Director of Service Development and Executive Nurse Lead at the Trust, said: “Sam has show great vision in developing this new device and she is a great example of the commitment among NHS staff to constantly improving the quality of care offered to patients. I congratulate her on taking her idea and developing it in this way.”

For more information about the IV Sty, see case studies.

“Wouldn’t it be great…if!” This was the theme of what proved to be an exciting, participative workshop which NHS Innovations South West (NISW) ran in Gloucestershire at the end of September, on behalf of the National Innovation Centre (NIC).

“Wouldn’t it be great… if” (WIBGI, for short) is a multi-stage programme conceived by the NIC. The overall purpose of the programme is to uncover areas of unmet need, within the NHS and caring settings, which require the development of innovative solutions. It is also designed to help ensure that innovative products which are developed commercially actually do respond to the needs of users, carers and clinical teams. Each event is allocated a specific theme, and the involvement of local health communities is the first stage of the WIBGI process – defining the need.

At the Gloucestershire event, front-line healthcare professionals from across the county were asked to use their day-to-day experience to focus on practical issues surrounding the care of people who spend a significant proportion of their time in bed – whether at home, in the community or in hospital. Participants on the day came from the local acute, mental health and primary care Trusts as well as from Social Services and the private sector.

The programme included exercises designed first of all to scope out the breadth of the issues of concern, and second to focus on the areas which were of the highest priority. With the help of facilitators, the delegates were able to share concerns, experience and expertise from across a wide range of backgrounds.

During the workshop, over 130 issues were identified for the NIC to consider. The issues were then grouped and prioritised into the five areas which were felt to cause the highest concern for practitioners. These were:

1. Patient quality of life issues
2. Bed design issues
3. Coping with the changing needs of a patient
4. Good positioning of patients within the bed
5. Storage issues

Local Trust Innovation Lead (TIL), Catherine Boyce, said “Feedback from the event has been both positive and enthusiastic – demonstrating the benefits of this type of approach and the insight which staff can bring to identifying issues. Local participants are also eager to be involved by the NIC as a source of potential “expert user” advice for any products which emerge at later stages of the NIC WIGBI process.

Although on this occasion the objectives of the event did not include the generation of technical solutions, it did demonstrate very clearly that we do have some very imaginative and creative staff. It also raised awareness of the opportunities for staff to work with NISW to explore the potential of innovative products which they may have”.

When informed that only one of the NISW Trust Innovation Leaders would be able to attend the Medica event in Dusseldorf last November the group of TILs decided to elect their representative by ballot. And for all sorts of reasons (not least her outgoing nature) Debbie Postlethwaite was chosen to be the one to go on this occasion… but not before getting her to agree to report on her experiences in the next NISW Newsletter.

I left Salisbury at 5am not really knowing where I was going, what I was going to; and no idea what to expect. Where were my other TIL’s???

I arrived safely in Dusseldorf and was taken by taxi to Medica. On arrival it did not seem to be too daunting and I waited nervously in the entrance hall for Chris to give me my ticket. Once through the barrier things changed dramatically.

It was huge…. There were North, South, East and West entrances and exits and my main task was to find the NHS Innovations Stand.

My first impression was how many buildings there were to this international conference. Each section was just like an aeroplane hanger and was filled to the brim with some very simple stands but also some amazingly constructed very extravagant exhibitions. Each ‘hanger’ had varying countries in it and it was fascinating to see just how many different types of medical innovations exist and how much competition there is in the world of innovation.

On my search for the NHS Innovations stand much to my amazement I bumped into a friendly face from Limbs and Things. It was strange to think I had traveled to an international convention and amongst all the thousands of people I actually knew someone – I began to relax and started to look forward to two days of networking and sore feet!

I found the NHS Innovation stand and was introduced to various people from Hubs across the country. Everyone made me feel very welcome and I was issued with an official badge and working rota to ‘man’ the stand! Before I started work Maria suggested that I get some coffee and start looking around. I eventually found some coffee and an excellent German cake to give me energy!

I decided against a plan of attack as it seemed impossible to know where to start, so I just headed off in one direction. Little did I know but this just happened to turn out to be the right direction! I ended up in Australia and by the end of my strolling around looking confused and lost I had set up ‘drinks’ with various stands in Australia at 5pm, cocktails somewhere else in the world at 6pm and so it went on! But before these important meetings it was time to do some work on our stand.

The stand was very busy and I met so many interesting and chatty people from all over the world. Business cards were passed backwards and forwards and some good contacts were made. People were generally very interested in what we do, they wanted to know what a Hub was and asked many questions about the service we provide, how did it fit in with the NHS and what was a TIL!

The hours passed by very quickly, and in fact you had no idea of time at all in these huge buildings. I looked at my watch and realised I should have been in Australia 15 minutes ago! Little did I know that three and possibly four of these meetings later turned out to be extremely beneficial to three of my projects, but at the time I did not realise it!

It was now 6.30pm and I had been up since 4am in the morning and I was exhausted. I was so relieved when Maria decided that we should call it a day and head to our hotel before going out. Our hotel was yet another wonderful part to this amazing adventure, it was a boat moored on the Rhine.

The following day it was back to Medica before heading home. This day was packed full. It included working of the NHS Innovations stand, visiting stands, networking, seeing what was already on the market, researching for my projects and of course a break for a wonderful German sausage in fresh bread with plenty of mustard!

So after two very tiring but extremely successful days of networking, visiting what felt like hundreds of stands and generally being amazed at what is being produced in the medical world, and seeing just how many medical innovations there are out there, it was time to go home.

I came home with many contacts, people to meet up with in the UK and later a surprise call from a company that wanted to meet regarding my podiatry innovations. Most of all though I came home with an understanding of just how big the world of innovations is within the medical world, and how hard it is to find something that is truly unique. But I also felt extremely proud of some of the innovations that have come my way from Salisbury and I feel that there is a place in the medical world for some of them – it’s just getting the right contact. And Medica certainly provides you with the contacts and the opportunities.

Lastly though I would like to say a huge thank you to all my TIL colleagues, who gave me this wonderful opportunity – it really was a chance of a lifetime and an experience that I will not forget – I did think of you all briefly whilst sipping a glass of wine looking at the lights reflecting in the water on the Rhine from MSV Switzerland 11!

UBHT picked up two awards at the prestigious Enterprise Award Dinner, held in Wills Memorial Building on 3 July. Receiving their awards from Professor Eric Thomas, University of Bristol Vice-Chancellor, were Dr Chris Probert, Jenny Anstead and Peter Smithson.

First prize was awarded to Dr Chris Probert, UBHT Gastroentrerology Consultant, and Professor Norman Ratcliffe (UWE), for their invention the Odor-Reader. The Odor-Reader is a near-patient diagnostic device for determining the cause of gastrointestinal (GI) disease by 'reading' the odour of biological fluids including stool and urine.

The Bristol Buggy, designed by Jenny Anstead (Senior Paediatric Physiotherapist) and Peter Smithson (Head of MEMO), received the Best Social Enterprise Award. The buggy will transport children in full body plaster cast following orthopaedic surgery and support carers and clinicians to provide the complex care required during this period of disability. You can find out more about the Bristol Buggy at www.nisw.co.uk

For more information contact Rachel Clark, Trust Innovation Leader, rachel.clark@ubht.nhs.uk