In this blog, Health Innovation East Midlands Managing Director Nicole McGlennon discusses the considerations for successful adoption of innovative and transformative projects – from smaller initiatives through to major programmes being driven across organisations, sectors and geographies. 

Using the example of Focus ADHD – a three-year innovation programme adopted across England via the Health Innovation Network – Nicole summarises the critical success factors that have been captured in a new blueprint document “Innovation implementation, readiness and resourcing”. 

We all know the challenges facing our NHS and wider care system as we emerge from, and continue to address, the impacts of Covid-19. 

The pandemic has focused us on the potential for transformative technologies, systems and ways of working to support recovery and reimagine services and pathways – but driving change alongside tackling day to day challenges is not easy; we may have the will but it’s hard to create the capacity to make transformative change a reality. 

Through my innovation work locally within the East Midlands – and my discussions with the other local health innovation networks across England – we are seeing some fantastic examples of Integrated Care Systems and partners making change happen. 

We have a culture and spirit of entrepreneurship driven both by commercial innovators and healthcare staff care working at the forefront of service delivery.  

I‘m also greatly encouraged by the potential for our research and innovation partners to come together to ensure that the very best research outputs are implemented so we drive the adoption of innovation further and faster. 

The 15 health innovation networks (HINs) have a prime role to help make all this happen. 

Experts at enabling transformation, we work across and connect all sectors and have created a national NHS pipeline that currently features more than 1,500 evidenced innovations that respond to local health and care challenges. 

Focus ADHD is one example of rapid and widespread implementation of an innovation programme across a wide geography (in this case, England) involving dozens of partners across the NHS, wider healthcare, commercial, research and third sectors, underpinned by patient involvement. 

Led by Health Innovation East Midlands and coordinated nationally by the 15 HINs between April 2020 and March 2023, the programme was based on adopting a digital technology called QbTest, which measures all three components of ADHD (attention, impulsivity and activity).  

Used alongside clinical assessment the tool reduces the time to diagnosis and frees up time to enable clinicians to focus on more complex cases (for more about the benefits of the QbTest objective testing technology, see this NICE Medical Innovation Briefing).  

Launched coinciding with the start of the pandemic, despite the devasting impact of Covid-19 on non-emergency services the programme exceeded all its targets. By June 2023, more than 65,000 young people had benefited, and the objective assessment technology was being used in 69 NHS trusts across 149 sites.  

But why was this programme such a success when other, equally important and promising projects may fail to gain traction? 

These are the issues considered in a new ‘blueprint’ document, “Innovation implementation, readiness and resourcing” produced by the Health Innovation Network, that collates learning from the Focus ADHD programme across the 15 HINs. 

This valuable insight – relevant to anyone seeking to develop and successfully implement an innovation or transformation programme within health and care settings – is summarised in the document under a five key headings: 

Understand the context 

• Establishing the clinical and operational drivers for change, and understanding the evidence base. 
• Considering how the project aligns to regional and national guidance, strategy and policy. 

Raise awareness 

• Identifying the organisations and individuals who will implement the programme. 
• Developing consistent messaging and communications toolkits. 

Build will 

• Understanding stakeholders and identifying champions and advocates for change. 
• Listening to people’s experience of care and capturing patients’ voices. 

Support implementation 

• Ensuring operational and clinical staff are in place to implement – and sustain – the change. 

• Keeping track of progress and building ongoing input from partners. 

Change behaviour 

• Celebrating success – for example regular updates on the positive impacts can reinforce the benefits of seeing the programme through and ensuring it is sustained. 
• Providing ongoing support, for example through implementation resources and through communities of practice to share experiences and positive case studies. 

I hope you find the guide and the supporting resources useful, and you may also find helpful this recording a recent webinar about learning from the Focus ADHD programme along with the supporting slides.  

Support from the Health Innovation Networks 

Established in 2013 (formerly the AHSNs) the HINs operate as the local innovation arms of the NHS and come together to address national health and care priorities by speeding up coordinated spread of innovations – from medical technologies, devices and apps to digital systems, medicines and wider pathway transformation. 

We develop partnerships across all sectors involved in health and care transformation including the NHS, social care, public health, research and voluntary organisations, and the private sector (including medical technology and pharmaceutical companies). 

With more than 10 years of expertise and knowledge we can help advise and guide organisations and individuals seeking to implement innovation. 

To find out how we can help you, get in touch with your local health innovation network.