BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
Accelerating research into clinical practice
Dr Richard Deed, service delivery lead for Health Innovation Manchester, and technology director at NHS innovation specialist, TRUSTECH, looks into Greater Manchester’s thriving health industry and why it is uniquely placed to lead the way.
The rising costs of health and social care and slow introduction of innovative solutions are a major frustration to policy-makers and care providers. The obstacles preventing rapid implementation of innovations nationwide include fragmented and slow decision- making; structures which do not assist collaboration and co-ordination; lengthy and uncertain routes to adoption; excellent initiatives in one locality that are not shared across systems; and a multiplicity of organisations and initiatives that industry finds confusing and adds to their risk. Like all cities and countries, Greater Manchester is facing significant public health challenges. A significant increase in over 65s and 85s is expected (20% and 30% respectively between 2011 and 2021), against a backdrop of rising health and social care costs and a decreasing budget. Patient outcomes across Greater Manchester are currently below national averages against a range of disease and mortality figures, and over the next five years, it faces significant public health challenges. Quite simply, Manchester cannot carry on doing what has previously occurred as its problems will only get bigger. The needs of the community and the problems that exist need to be addressed; things must be done differently, the city must innovate and change.
However the challenges and barriers to introducing innovation into health and social care services at pace are global issues, not
just Manchester’s. Yet empowered by devolution, Greater Manchester is uniquely placed to tackle both of these challenges; it became the first city region in the country to take control of its combined health and social care budgets. Today, two years since the formal devolution, local leaders and NHS clinicians control budgets, decisions are made locally rather than at national level; and for the first time, the power has shifted, bringing a new way to make decisions. It is this change, combined with Manchester’s other attributes that will help it do things differently. It is uniquely placed to tackle the challenges, and lead the way for others.
Embracing collaboration
There has always been a history of collaboration in Manchester, devolution just cements it and allows for more possibilities as Greater Manchester now has more control over its finances and how to direct them. Greater Manchester has a single accountable body (Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership), comprised of 37 NHS organisations and local authorities, responsible for the city region’s annual £6 billion health and social care budget for 2.8 million citizens. For the first time, Greater Manchester can adopt a system-wide view of the most pressing health and social care needs, agreeing shared priorities, and streamlining
Quite simply, Manchester cannot carry on doing what has previously occurred…The needs of the community and the problems that exist need to be addressed; things must be done differently, the city must innovate and change.
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WWW.CLINICALSERVICESJOURNAL.COM
Dr Richard Deed, service delivery lead for Health Innovation Manchester.
processes to enable faster decision-making. An accompanying system-wide approach to innovation is also critical. Greater Manchester health devolution has enabled the formation of an Academic Health Science System, called Health Innovation Manchester (HInM). It is the city region’s response for the acceleration of innovative clinical research into clinical practice. Its ambitious vision is to transform the health and wellbeing of people of people by introducing innovative technology and service solutions into health and social care services much quicker. So could the unique offering of Greater Manchester help shape the future of healthcare? With the vision to be a recognised international leader in accelerating innovation that transforms citizens’ health and wellbeing; it certainly looks that way. Being at the heart of this unique and cohesive system ensures we have an in-depth understanding and clear view of the needs of citizens, patients, providers and commissioners. Furthermore, the world is now fully embedded in a “digital age” and although the healthcare sector is playing catch-up with the use of digital technologies and systems to deliver its services, Greater Manchester is well placed to capitalise on utilising the digital assets it has invested in over the recent years. It is broadly accepted that innovation only gets adopted when you can demonstrate efficacy through both quantitative and qualitative outputs, which is a major activity of an Academic Health Science System, such as Health Innovation Manchester. HInM is
JUNE 2018
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