Blogs

Opportunities are available to join our team. In this blog, Project Manager Beth Askey shares her experience working for HIEM, what attracted her to apply and gives some insight into projects that she’s enjoyed working on the most.

Take a look at our current job vacancies here.

I joined Health Innovation East Midlands (HIEM) in July 2024 after spending six years working in primary care, and I've genuinely enjoyed being able to take the experience and insights I gained on the frontline and apply them at a wider system level.

Mitigating the barriers to implementing AI in health and social care requires more than adopting new technologies; it demands careful consideration of regulation, workforce engagement, patient trust and clinical safety.

 In this blog, our Digital Health Lead explores some of the most common challenges NHS organisations face when introducing AI solutions into healthcare settings, alongside practical approaches to help overcome them. Drawing on local examples and projects supported by Health Innovation East Midlands, Dawn highlights how thoughtful implementation can help unlock the potential of AI to improve patient care, support staff, and drive productivity across the NHS.

John Isherwood is a former East Midlands Clinical Senate Leadership Fellow, current East Midlands Clinical Senate Council member and a consultant hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgeon in Leicester. Clinical Senates are non-statutory advisory bodies, which bring together multi-professional clinical leaders across its region, to provide expert clinical advice and guidance to all parts of the healthcare system to drive improvement. Health Innovation East Midlands has a position on the Clinical Senate Council.

How can we understand the barriers to AI in healthcare and how can we move forward? In this blog, John gives his perspective on why these barriers matter, the role of regional innovation partnerships and the future of AI in healthcare.

The national Maternity and Neonatal Perinatal leadership and culture programme aims to improve the quality of care and experiences of women, babies and families.

HIEM is working across the East Midlands to support teams to create the conditions for a positive culture of safety and continuous improvement.

In this blog, Ellen Cutler, Neonatal Matron at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, reflects on how the programme has changed their service.  

Steve Purdy is a Medtech innovator who founded Heads-Up Medical Solutions Ltd with the innovation Neuroguard. Alongside his day job as a frontline paramedic, Steve used evenings, weekends and annual leave to develop Neuroguard and secure funding.

Born from years of attending trauma cases, Neuroguard is designed to improve brain injury care in pre-hospital settings. The device enables correct head elevation while maintaining full spinal immobilisation, helping to reduce secondary brain injury and other complications.

Neuroguard was one of three winners as part of our Pitch Your Product: Medtech opportunity which offered a tailored package of support from expert partners.

November or ‘Movember’ is always a timely reminder of why men’s health matters. It’s a moment in the year when awareness grows, but more importantly, when taking simple, proactive steps can make a real difference.

Before diving into my personal experience, it’s worth recognising how much innovation is reshaping the way we approach health. Tools like the SiSU Health Station show how simple, accessible technology can remove barriers, create awareness, and make preventative health checks a normal part of everyday life.

I’d like to share a personal experience: the moment I used the SiSU Health Station at a staff meeting at work, and how that quick check changed my understanding of my own health.

Every year, around 60,000 babies in the UK are born prematurely—before 37 weeks of gestation*. They face increased risks of complications, and their families often navigate complex emotional and medical journeys.

At Health Innovation East Midlands, we’re proud to lead the Maternity and Neonatal Safety Improvement Programme (MatNeoSIP) across the region. Our mission is to support healthcare staff in delivering safer, more equitable care for mothers and babies—especially those born too soon.

On World Prematurity Day, Senior Improvement Lead Kate Hardiman reflects on the importance of improving care for preterm infants and highlight the progress being made across the NHS.

This ADHD awareness month, we are highlighting work we are leading to improve the care pathway for people with ADHD and support the identification, development, and use of digital technologies. 

The work will bring together insights and learning from people with lived experience, data, research, innovation, and clinical practice to explore how digital tools can help address current challenges for people with ADHD and the care pathways that support them.  

It supports the delivery of the national shift of health services from analogue to digital wherever possible, to help people access the support they need more quickly and improve outcomes.  

In this blog Tracey Jackman, Head of Innovation Programme Delivery at HIEM tells us more about the work and how we are using learning from our previous programme – Focus ADHD which improved ADHD diagnosis in children and young people. 

In this blog, Nicole McGlennon, Managing Director, reflects on the recent East Midlands innovation showcase event. She explores why health innovation is more important than ever and the conditions needed to make it successful.

On Thursday 18 September, we welcomed NHS leaders, innovators, and system partners to the East Midlands Health innovation showcase. The event was more than an exhibition: it was a platform to accelerate the adoption of proven innovations that can help transform health and care in our region and beyond.

There are several ways to approach a problem  - a common approach within patient safety is to put in place more restrictions in order to stop harm from occurring.

In this blog, HIEM Senior Improvement Lead and Nurse, Hannah Jackson-Cox describes a recent project, in collaboration with Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, that used QI approaches to do the opposite – while reducing incidences of self-harm by 40%. 

The project has been shortlisted for a HSJ Patient Safety Award.