Martin Hindle has served as the Chair of Health Innovation East Midlands (HIEM) since the organisation was set up in 2013.
As his fixed term appointment comes to an end – with a new chair to be unveiled in April – Martin reflects on some of the high points, and learnings, from his journey with HIEM over the past 10 years.
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Between 2013 and the end of March 2024, I have been privileged to have served as the Independent Chair of the Governance Board for Health Innovation East Midlands, one of England’s 15 local health innovation networks.
My fixed term of office is about to end and in the next few days HIEM will be announcing the organisation’s new chair, to whom I wish great success – I’m sure they will be as inspired as I have been by the positive impacts achieved by the organisation and the fantastic expertise and commitment of our team.
Whilst my role has at times been challenging, I can honestly say I’ve enjoyed every second and have been privileged to be a part of our nation’s first ever innovation collaborative focusing on the transformation of health and care for the benefit of patients.
The twin abilities of the 15 health innovation networks – to work together to drive the adoption and spread of innovation at pace across the country, whilst operating locally to respond to the needs of our health and care systems within our geographies – is absolutely unique and I feel this is enabling innovation in ways not achieved before in the history of the NHS.
During our first decade, within the East Midlands we connected with more than 1,000 organisations across all sectors involved in healthcare innovation; offering expert supporting services ranging from evaluation and analytics through to innovation scanning (matching proven solutions to local health challenges), quality improvement methodology, workforce transformation and addressing health inequality.
This tremendous contribution has been made possible through the expertise, knowledge and enthusiasm of our staff. Whilst we are a small organisation, we have a huge remit and our team members have developed unique insight into the conditions for successful innovation adoption.
Our 2023 staff survey captures the passion of our workforce, with 97% of people feeling trusted and empowered in their jobs.
As my term of office is about to come to a conclusion, I have been reflecting on some of the highlights, and learnings.
In terms of highlights there are too many to list, so I will mention just a few:
- Our innovation and transformation work In the East Midlands positively impacted the lives of more than 780,000 people between 2013 and 2023, and by supporting commercial innovators to develop and scale their technologies, we were instrumental in leveraging over £84.3m for our region.
- Our estimated value to the East Midlands health and care system during those 10 years was £153.7M – achieved against a funding envelope of £46.7M.
- We are not only delivering impact, but contributing to a priceless bank of knowledge around the conditions for innovation to be spread and sustained. One example is the national Focus ADHD programme, led by HIEM between 2020 and 2023. Despite the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic the programme benefited over 65,000 young people and was delivered in 69 NHS trusts across England. Our valuable learning is captured in a ‘blueprint’ document, “Innovation implementation, readiness and resourcing” – essential reading for anyone working to transform health and care services.
Those are some achievements - but what have I learned from my time with Health Innovation East Midlands?
- The Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced the imperative to nurture and invest in a strong innovation infrastructure, alongside our strong UK research sector.
- To realise their full potential to make a difference, healthcare organisations and companies need an innovation infrastructure that provides the support, advice and expertise they need – no group of organisations can do this in the way the local health innovation networks do.
- Involving patients, and addressing health inequality, are critical considerations for innovation to be successfully developed, spread and sustained. At Health Innovation East Midlands we have championed these issues since 2013.
- Innovation can be complex – but it can be very quick and simple. With tailored support and advice, we are supercharging transformative change, driving innovation further and faster than achieved in the history of the NHS.
- Don’t be afraid to fail, but fail fast, learn and move on. Not everything will succeed – sometimes promising early stage innovations that we anticipate will fly, never take off. What’s important is to understand the ‘why?’. Our experiences enrich our knowledge bank and help avoid pitfalls in future, so our chances of success are increased, and our risk of failure diminishes over time.
On a final note, I will take this opportunity to pay tribute to all of my colleagues, past and present in HIEM, and across all 15 health innovation networks for their continuing outstanding work.
It has been an honour to be part of this incredible national innovation movement and I wish you all great success for the future – what is beyond any question is the key contribution that innovation must continue to play at the heart of health and care transformation.