Earlier this year, Health Innovation East Midlands and West Midlands co- hosted a webinar to showcase healthcare innovations to better support people with a learning disability who are at risk of behaviour that challenges, while reducing reliance on psychotropic medicines where appropriate.
The event brought together NHS colleagues, commissioners, clinicians, innovators and system leaders to explore how digital and non-digital innovations might support this important work. During the webinar, ten innovators presented their products to improve communication and care coordination; support psychotropic medication reviews, deprescribing and behaviour monitoring; and access to non-pharmacological interventions.
At the time of the event, many of the health systems we were working with on this topic through the Medicines Safety Improvement Programme were still developing their plans and priorities.
Now, as the teams begin to implement their local action plans, HIEM Head of Innovation Pipeline Development Suze Horobin and HIWM, Portfolio Manager Jordan Leith revisit the discussions, ideas and innovations that were shared.
Innovation as an enabler, not a replacement for improvement
One of the strongest themes from the Innovation Exchange was that technology is not a solution in isolation. Improving outcomes for people with a learning disability requires person-centred care, multi-agency collaboration, shared decision-making and a commitment to reducing health inequalities. Digital tools can help enable and support this work, but they cannot replace it.
The event explored four key areas where innovation could potentially provide support:
- Improving shared decision-making and care planning.
- Enhancing multi-agency working.
- Supporting the safe deprescribing of psychotropic medicines.
- Expanding access to non-pharmacological (psychosocial and environmental) support and interventions.
Importantly, presenters also highlighted the need to ensure solutions are inclusive and accessible, recognising the digital exclusion that many people with learning disability continue to experience.
A diverse range of innovations
The Innovation Exchange showcased a range of technologies and approaches designed to support people, families and professionals across the care pathway.
These included:
- Digital care planning and shared decision-making platforms.
- Multi-disciplinary team (MDT) collaboration tools.
- AI-enabled communication and training solutions.
- Secure communication and messaging platforms.
- Person-centred digital passports.
- Health and wellbeing self-management tools.
- Multimedia support planning resources designed with and for people with learning disability.
Together, these innovations demonstrated the types of support available to systems looking to strengthen implementation of their local plans.
A timely opportunity to reflect
Since the event, many organisations have progressed their improvement work and begun implementing actions to reduce avoidable harm associated with psychotropic medicines.
This creates an opportunity to revisit the Innovation Exchange resources with fresh eyes:
- Could any of the showcased innovations align with local actions plans and help overcome implementation challenges?
- Are there opportunities to strengthen collaboration between health, social care and families?
- Could digital tools support more consistent person-centred care planning?
- Are there technologies that could help improve communication, monitoring or access to alternative interventions?
For some teams, the answer may be no. For others, there may be valuable opportunities that were not immediately apparent when plans were still being developed.
Looking ahead
The positive engagement generated through the Innovation Exchange has prompted wider discussions about the role that innovation-focused events can play in supporting system improvement. Understanding what value attendees derived from the session, and whether it influenced thinking, planning or implementation, will help inform future work in this area.
If you have any reflections that you’d be willing to share or would like to know more about the MedSIP programme please contact
Resources
We hope these resources provide a useful source of inspiration and practical ideas as systems continue their efforts to improve care, reduce harm and support people with learning disability to live healthier lives.