Launch of the Innovate Healthier Together Programme

Health Innovation West of England is working in partnership with Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) Integrated Care Board (ICB) over the next 12 months to deliver an exciting new programme to accelerate the adoption and spread of innovation across Healthier Together – the local Integrated Care System (ICS).

This programme will look at innovation through a broad lens; it could be a new way of working, a new idea, method or device. The ‘Innovate Healthier Together Programme’ will support the ICB in their ambitions to change lives and improve health, wellbeing and care for the populations they serve.

The programme has multiple objectives:

• Setting up a network of innovation enthusiasts across the system, providing a space to come together, build a community, share knowledge and learn from one another in how to ensure innovations are adopted and spread successfully.
• Engaging leaders from across ICS partner organisations, including non-executives, to build their capability and confidence to drive innovation across the Healthier Together system and share knowledge and expertise from other industries.
• Designing a bespoke development programme to upskill colleagues in innovation principles to increase the innovation talent pool within the system.
• Working with procurement teams with the aim of making it easier to adopt innovative solutions into the system.
• Working with multi-partner ICS groups at both place level (Locality Partnerships) and system-wide to identify opportunities to bring innovations into practice.

The outcome of this work will be the development of a well-networked innovation community and a blueprint for accelerating innovation into services that positively impact the health of our population.

NIHR ARC West are contributing this to programme with an exploratory qualitative study with leaders from ICS partner organisations. The data assimilated from this study will be used to inform future opportunities for promoting innovative practices through the Innovate Healthier Together programme, as well as providing a baseline for a potential wider programme impact evaluation.

Ellie Wetz, Associate Director at Health Innovation West of England is leading the Innovate Healthier Together programme. Ellie said:

“Whilst this programme has clear tangible deliverables, we also recognise that it’s not just about having the right tools and processes, but also ensuring we create the culture in which they are used effectively. There’s a lot to look forward to, and we’re just at the beginning. We’re setting the groundwork for a culture of continuous learning and improvement around innovation.”

Healt Innovation West of England be engaging with  local stakeholders to build and enhance on innovative practices and networks that already exist. They will also be engaging with the wider Health Innovation Network (formerly the AHSN Network) and beyond to learn about what has been done elsewhere, regionally and nationally, and whether there are opportunities for shared learning.

If you would like to know more about the Innovate Healthier Together Programme or would like to share insights and learning from something you’re working on or have seen in the system, then please feel free to reach out to the programme leads.

Any learning and evidence gathered while working with an individual system is used to inform opportunities for wider adoption and spread across the West of England and beyond.