Blogs

From my experience and learnings at the EMAHSN, I have learnt that there is no single approach to getting healthcare innovations spread in the NHS. It all depends on the complexity of the intervention, the system, culture, and circumstances of the environment in which it is to be implemented.

In my previous role where I was improving patient flow across the emergency and urgent care system, everyone knew that they needed to work differently yet the need to respond to daily demands, coupled with limited funding resources stopped people in their tracks.

East Midlands Patient Safety Collaborative delivers the NHS Mental Health National Patient Safety Improvement Programme, which aims to reduce the use of restrictive practice for in-patients of mental health services. You can find out more in our benchmarking report.

Mark Phillips, Trust-wide Professional Lead for Violence Reduction Training with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, tells us about his role and the changes he has made to ensure strong governance around the content and delivery of training in restrictive interventions.

EMAHSN offers a range of programmes and initiatives to support commercial innovators and healthcare staff. This involves supporting them along their journey from having a great idea to successfully launching and spreading their healthcare solution. Through the expert support offered we bridge the gap between the NHS and industry for patient benefit.

As part of this, we have recently launched an Innovation Academy – a dedicated free programme designed for those who would like to gain an understanding of how the NHS takes on new products or services.

In this blog, Julian Patel, EMAHSN's Commercial Manager, covers the launch of the Academy and the wealth of EMAHSN support currently offered to health innovators.

Since March 2020, Academic Health Science Networks have supported the rollout of an evidence-based Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) programme called Focus ADHD.

Working closely with mental health trusts and community paediatric services, the programme seeks to improve the ADHD assessment offer for children and young people. In the first year of the national programme, nearly 10,000 patients have benefitted across 46 hospital trusts in 2020/21.

ADHD is a treatable disorder and affects approximately 3-5% of children and young people (ONS CYP prevalence survey 2017). If undiagnosed and/or untreated ADHD can have a significant impact on personal development.

In this blog, Nick Hamilton Digital and AI Project Manager shares his experience of his time working at EMAHSN as a Project Manager as part of our Innovation Delivery team, to recently working in the Innovation Exchange and Commerical team.

He also gives insight into the soon to be launched 2022 East Midlands Digital Health Accelerator programme for commercial health innovators and clinical entrepreneurs.

In January 2021 I took a new post as Digital and AI Project Manager within the Innovation Exchange and Commercial team. This was both an exciting and daunting prospect for me.

East Midlands Patient Safety Collaborative is recruiting for two Senior Improvement Leads. In this blog former lead, Tracey Jackman shares her experience of the role and gives insight into the opportunities available.

To find out more about this position and how to apply, visit our webpage.

My background

I am Tracey Jackman, and I am the Deputy Head of Patient Safety at EMAHSN. I joined EMAHSN in 2020 and since then I have been appointed Deputy Head of Patient Safety.

When developing and introducing new digital innovations there is a need to balance giving people confidence in digital technology that it is safe, secure and useful and to help innovators and vendors develop technology that can be embedded in the NHS without unnecessarily inhibiting them.

I was fortunate enough to be involved in helping to launch the beta of the NHS Apps Library back in 2013, which in turn was released by NHS England and NHS Digital in 2017.  Each of the iterations of the NHS Library required some form of assessment model to achieve this confidence.

In this blog, Michael Prior shares his reflections on Patient and Public Involvement as part of the East Midlands Imaging Network (EMRAD) project and the importance of capturing the patient voice when trialing or informing new services.

My Background 

I am someone with a long and complex medical history.  I have a lot of debilitating side effects from heavy radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatments when I was a student at university 40 years ago.

Taking care of your mental health is something that shouldn’t be overlooked or taken for granted. It can arguably be more important than looking after your physical health. Having poor mental health can significantly impact your life and those around you.

As it is mental health awareness week, I wanted to take the time to reflect on my own experiences as an employee at the EMAHSN. 

In support of mental health awareness week (10-16 May) this blog focuses on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). ADHD left untreated as a child can lead to significant problems later in life including issues with emotional health, relationships and sometimes other mental health conditions can commonly occur with it.

In this blog East Midlands AHSN Senior Innovation Lead, Laura Rogers highlights the challenges in the system, the importance of an objective test for ADHD diagnosis, local performance and what is next for the Focus ADHD programme in the East Midlands.