DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release issued by COI News Distribution Service on 27 April 2009
A £220 million
fund will be made available to encourage innovation within the
NHS, Health Minister Lord Darzi announced today, during an event
at the Science Museum in London to mark the launch of
'Innovation for a Healthier Future', a series of
initiatives to nurture and reward innovation within the NHS.
Building on the Government's firm commitment to create an
innovative health service, England's ten Strategic Health
Authorities (SHAs) will each receive £2 million this year, and £5
million in each of the following four years to support frontline
NHS staff in developing innovative ideas. The cash will be
invested directly into a combination of projects on the ground and
at regional level, speeding up the time it takes for innovative
solutions to get from design bench to NHS bedside. This will
benefit patients directly and increase the quality of the care
they receive.
Many innovative ideas in the NHS risk not being developed due to
a lack of funding. The fund has been made available to help bring
these ideas about and empower the inspiration of the 1.3 million
NHS staff and their colleagues in social care who make a
difference each day to people's lives.
Lord Darzi said:
"This announcement is a huge step forward in implementing
the recommendations set out last summer in my strategy on the
future of the NHS.
"NHS staff have told me that accessing the funds to make
ideas become reality can be a struggle and as a result, many great
ideas never get realised. That is why I am delighted to announce
that we now have a £220 million innovation fund available to get
those ideas off the bench and to patient bedsides, day centres or
GP surgeries.
"We know that around 40% of the world's inventions over
the past 50 years originated in the UK and that the NHS is rightly
recognised as a world leader in the development of innovative
treatments and technologies - but we can be better at putting
those good ideas into action and these funds will help do exactly that."
The Government has also announced that alongside this funding, it
has put in a place a support structure on innovation for Strategic
Health Authorities, with NESTA (the National Endowment for Science
Technology and the Arts) and the Young Foundation acting as
advisers to SHAs in bringing about a true innovation culture. The
two bodies have a proven track record in nurturing and supporting
innovation and assisting organisations to turn great ideas into
great improvements.
Speaking about their support to the NHS, Jonathan Kestenbaum
NESTA Chief Executive said:
"The pressures on delivering high quality healthcare have
never been greater. Yesterday's solutions to tomorrow's
problems won't work. The SHA Innovation Fund will ensure that
fresh ideas and radical thinking by frontline staff can be
delivered across the NHS. NESTA has developed expertise in how to
encourage innovative public services and we are pleased to be able
to put this into action at the very heart of public service delivery".
In addition, Lord Darzi announced further details of the
'Innovation Challenge Prizes' which will engage with
innovators globally and invite them to devise exciting new ways to
address key health challenges.
The prizes will be a key way in which to recognise and promote
emerging best practice and the Challenges themselves will be
designed to engage a wide range of NHS staff.
A panel of experts will create a shortlist of possible challenges
with the exact challenges announced later this year following a
public engagement process. The Panel will be assisted in its work
by Trevor Baylis, inventor of the wind up radio and one of this
countries top inventors.
Says Trevor Baylis, "Britain has an outstanding heritage in
innovation, from the steam engine to the MRI scanner - we are a
nation of innovators who are constantly looking for new, different
and better ways of doing things. The Innovation Challenges Prizes
are a fantastic opportunity to create and develop ideas that can
genuinely change lives for the better."
Alongside this new investment and support, England's
Strategic Health Authorities will also be subject to a legal duty
to promote innovation and support the diffusion of innovative
technologies and solutions throughout the health service.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. Any follow up questions should be addressed to the Department
of Health Newsdesk on (020) 7210 5221
2. Case Studies are available to illustrate the type of
innovations which have been developed in supportive NHS
environment can be obtained via the Newsdesk on the number above.
3. The NHS will host a dedicated event on innovation in June;
further details can be found at http://www.healthcareinnovationexpo.com.
4. Innovation Challenge Prizes are subject to Parliamentary approval
5. The commitment to foster a pioneering NHS can be found in High
Quality Care for All, the NHS Next Stage Review Final Report which
can be found at:http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/publicationsandstatistics/publications/publicationspolicyandguidance/DH_085825
6. Research has shown that where prizes have been offered in
other sectors for innovation, the resultant value of the research
work undertaken has eclipsed the value of the prize by up to 16
times the value of the prize
7. Each Strategic Health Authority will establish its own systems
for making this money available to frontline staff, details of
which will be published locally.