6 FUTURENORTH CONNECTED HEALTH CITIES


6 March 2019


CHC was awarded the 2018 Healthcare Project of the Year Award in recognition of the innovative use of technology and NHS data


A catalyst for change


Project has galvanised relationships and reduced the timeframe for innovations


The award-winning Connected Health Cities (CHC) project is transforming lives across the North of England. Using its unique method, CHC is


now helping doctors to treat children with asthma at home rather than in hospital; coordinating better care for those with fragility or for vulnerable families; helping to plan services for people with COPD, liver disorders and epilepsy; saving lives and reducing disability after a stroke; and producing tools that can help tackle antibiotic usage. Professor John Ainsworth, Direc-


tor of CHC commented “CHC was conceived as a pilot programme to explore the feasibility of the NHS adopting a learning health system approach. It has exceeded all of our expectations. The impact can now be measured in lives saved, reduced costs and improved patient experience.” Connected Health Cities is harness-


ing the power of data to implement cycles of continuous improvement in health and care service, called Learning Health Systems (LHS), for the benefit of patients. Backed by the Department of Health and Social Care, and led by the Northern Health


Science Alliance, CHC put in place clinically and socially driven care path- ways programmes across the health sector in the North of England. CHC is embedded inside of both the NHS, through Trusts and AHSN clinical part- ners, and in academia; but with strong representation from both local citizens and local government. CHC achieved transformational


results by using a replicable approach which is attracting significant global


interest. The approach is centred on the CHC method which uses a combination of people, data and meth- ods to provide an agile framework that enables front-line innovators to improve care, reduce waste and unlock learning. The CHC method brings together


the right people to work on the right data with the right methods; to deliver the best care for the right patients at the right time. The approach has


successfully broken down organisa- tional barriers to transform beliefs and capabilities. It has created high performance teams who understand what works, where it works and the know-how to scale their solutions. Critical to the success of the CHC


method has been the significant involvement of both patients and local citizens in steering the direction and value proposition of CHC outputs. As a large data-intensive initiative,


CHC has been unique in that one of its main aims was to work with the public and gain its trust. This was achieved through the use of many citizen- centric methods centred on our social media campaign #DataSavesLives. The use of Citizen Juries, which allows the public to gain a deep understand- ing of the risks and opportunities of a specific topic and give their informed opinion on complex or nuanced topics, has provided great insight. The key message was that if their


“CHC has been a catalyst for change in the North. It has galvanised relationships, put in place continuous improvement, and reduced the timeframe for innovations.


Dr Amanda Lamb, Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer


data was to be used for improvements, the public wanted to be able to see and feel the benefit. CHC ensured the delivery of local solutions in key areas important to its regions. Dr Amanda Lamb, Deputy Direc-


tor and Chief Operating Officer, said: “CHC has been a catalyst for change in the North. It has galvanised relationships, put in place continuous improvement, and reduced the time- frame for innovations. We are excited to explore international opportunities in the near future.” 2018 was a significant year for CHC


with many staff and projects being recognised by prestigious organisa- tions such as Northern Power Women, Health Services Journal, Biomedical Journal and Bionow, where CHC was awarded the 2018 Healthcare Project of the Year award in recognition of the innovative use of technology and NHS data to create and embed LHS with the NHS and social care.


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