1) DH will be looking for NHS Provider Trusts to invest in digital technology that improves clinical quality, productivity and efficiency.   

2) NHS Trusts will be required to seize opportunities to adopt technology that supports new models of care that respond to needs of patients, improve service access and optimise service cost-effectiveness.

Health Innovation - key to a sustainable future

Health Innovation is vital to every healthcare system in the world. Health Innovation can be defined as a pro-active, patient-centric response to delivering “fit for purpose” healthcare services in an ever changing landscape. In a “fit for purpose” healthcare service - patients, payers, commissioners and relevant stakeholders - are assured of excellence in patient outcomes and a health service which is equitable, value for money, appropriate to socio-economic demands and sustainable.

Health Innovation - enabled by technology

Health Innovation is a key strategic goal for the devolved UK nations. Health Innovation, enabled with  empowering digital technologies, is considered a critical catalyst to accelerating delivery of the NHS Five Year Forward View.

Entec Health is in the business of partnering with the NHS and Qualified Healthcare Providers to deliver Health Innovation, enabled by technology and transformation solutions. Our key areas of focus are health innovation in wound management, long term conditions, self-management and health informatics for better health outcomes. Learn more about us:

 Top 10 Attributes for Health Innovation - enabled by technology

Entec Health has built a body of field experience and knowledge in facilitating Health Innovation, involving engagement of over 400 stakeholders in 80+ NHS entities. This experience has been largely gained in introducing the Silhouette digital wound assessment and information system (ARANZ Medical) to the UK for transformation of Tissue Viability services and Diabetes Foot services in the NHS. We believe the insights and learning shared here may be of value across a range of healthcare services. Based on this experience, Entec Health has identified the 10 key attributes of successful transformation teams in driving forward Technology-enabled Health Innovation in the UK environment.

Health Innovation Index - facilitating success for transformation teams

The Health Innovation Index (HII) is Entec Health's home-grown qualitative tool, based on these 10 Key Attributes for Health Innovation. The HII is a simple, observational approach for checking if the right conditions for health innovation exist already or if there is some way to go before the transformation team can move forward. 

A score from 1 to 10 is assigned for each of the HII Key Attributes based on what is in evidence in the environment that the transformation team is operating in, with 1 = low, 10 = high.

Similar to a Human Resources appraisal, the attributes are assessed based on finding tangible examples of the attribute which can be observed as behaviours, actions and results.

A perfect HII score would mean a transformation team scoring 10 out of 10 for all 10 attributes = 100 points. Using the HII tool, we can support our clients to prepare for success by leveraging strengths and addressing gaps, to ensure that the conditions for Health Innovation enabled by technology, are very favourable for the transformation team. Collaboration for success. 

Health Innovation Index (HII) © Entec Health November 2015

Discover Silhouette - Wound Care ServiceTransformation 

Are you looking for innovative ways to improve clinical effectiveness, efficiency, service access and patient experience for your wound care service? Discover how the Silhouette digital wound assessment and information management system can help.

Get in touch - share your vision and goals for Health Innovation

We would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact us for an exploratory discussion.

Health Innovation Index (HII) © Entec Health November 2015

AHSNs and Alice in Wonderland

"Now here, you see, it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that."
The Red Queen to Alice in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

I was literally out of air after 4 tough years as Managing Director of Entec Health, running incredibly hard to secure a sliver of success with introducing the Silhouette (ARANZ Medical) digital wound assessment solution to the NHS. Then along came AHSNs, the Academic Health Science Networks, like a breath of fresh air, offering much-needed advice and support to help Entec Health continue and run twice as fast. 

In our zeal to take an innovative, smart digital solution to the NHS, Entec Health has clocked up interactions with over 400+ NHS stakeholders, ranging from clinical leaders, service managers, front-line nurses, IT Directors to procurement specialists across some 80+ NHS entities. During the company's campaign to engage and recruit early adopters in the NHS, we have had some excellent support from a number of AHSNs. Though it should be noted that the quality of engagement and the rate of success has varied across the range of AHSNs. Often, a major factor is the effectiveness of the liaison partners appointed by AHSNs to manage the industry engagement.

Created in 2013, AHSNs have been getting into their stride with establishing relationships with partner stakeholders and developing joint programmes to deliver on agreed health & social care regional priorities. NHS England describes the role of AHSNs as:

"AHSNs have been established to deliver a step-change in the way the NHS identifies, develops and adopts new technologies and are predicated on partnership working and collaboration between the NHS, academia, the private sector and other external partners within a single AHSN context and across AHSNs."

It would be fair to say that Entec Health has had meaningful interactions with eight AHSNs to date and the company is now actively working with four of these AHSNs, together with partner NHS Trusts. My observation is that the effort to succeed with introducing innovative, enabling technology to the NHS is still a very tough mission but with AHSNs on the landscape, Entec Health now has allies who can give a steer on where we should put in the effort, find potential matches who connect to our value proposition and point us towards supporting resources we can leverage. 

As with any "transformation agency", the business of delivering the remit of AHSNs is challenging and there is still a lot of work to be done. A recent survey shows promising progress - the direction of travel of AHSNs is well supported by stakeholders.

"National survey finds 73% of stakeholders would recommend working with AHSNs." AHSN Stakeholder Survey 2015, YouGov

"The NHS needs to deliver a step-change in the way it identifies, adopts and spreads best practice, clinical innovations and new technologies more quickly and at scale in order to meet the enormous challenges set out in the Five Year Forward View." West Midlands AHSN website post 30.10.2015

See full AHSN Stakeholder Survey Report via this link:

http://wmahsn.org/storage/resources/documents/Stakeholder_survey_results__AHSN_Report_v0.6_(2)_.pdf

Looking ahead to the future and working towards effective adoption of relevant innovative technology by the NHS at scale and pace, Entec Health would propose that AHSNs could look to strengthen support in the following key areas:

1/ Closer links and relationships with strategic decision makers who have budgetary authority and have a remit to engage in strategic discussions and review of emerging technologies ready for NHS adoption. Strategic decision makers such as CEOs, Medical Directors, Finance Directors, Service Managers, Business Managers, Quality/Performance Improvement Managers, Innovation Leaders and Chief Clinical Information Officers in acute AND community NHS Provider Trusts.

2/ Better insights into how NHS Trusts will fund emerging technology investments and how they will prioritise these investments over next 5 years.

3/ Effective procurement strategies that NHS Trusts can use for purchase of innovative, emerging new technologies that come onto the market.

4/ Direct funding by AHSNs for specific demonstrator projects to validate and showcase benefits of embedding new technology to support development of best practice and healthcare service innovation. 

Entec Health is delighted to announce that Kate Pym will be supporting the organisation as a Health Service Improvement Champion & Coach. Kate Pym is an Accredited Healthcare Manager with the Institute of Healthcare Management, an Accredited Trainer with the Institute of Leadership and Management and a Registered and Certificated DiSC Trainer.

Before establishing herself as an independent consultant, Kate built a successful career over 20 years in the Pharmaceutical, Private Health and Social Care sectors. 

Kate brings strong experience and expertise in health service redesign, transformation projects, leadership, market access and strategic management. Kate has worked with senior NHS and Social Care commissioners and stakeholders across the UK, in a variety of services including dialysis, oncology and community care.

Kate will be working alongside Achala Patel, Managing Director, Entec Health to support the company's healthcare clients on realising clinical, patient and organisational benefits of the Silhouette digital wound assessment and information management system.

The Silhouette System (ARANZ Medical) is an innovative and enabling technology which supports improved clinical effectiveness and efficiency for wound management pathways in both primary care and secondary care settings. Entec Health is an appointed distributor to ARANZ Medical for Silhouette in the UK.

 “I am thrilled to be working with Entec Health, a  thought-leader and innovator in health technology.  Achala is an inspiration and demonstrates real vision in her mission to support transformation of wound management practice.  Entec Health has a patient-centred approach to health innovation which heralds great things for collaborative service improvement. It is always a great privilege to work in the development of health services with an overall objective of improving patient lives.”  commented Kate Pym,  an appointed Health Service Improvement Champion & Coach for Entec Health

Achala Patel, Managing Director, Entec Health added "I am really delighted and excited to have Kate Pym join our mission -  Entec Health's key goal is to collaborate with our clients to drive health innovation, enabled through technology solutions. Kate's passion and expertise in designing and delivering health service improvement strategies will be a major asset for us and our clients."