Health Service Focus

Health and care innovation expo 2015

NHE’s Adam Hewitt, David Stevenson and Luana Salles report from NHS England’s innovation event.

The return of the Health and Care Innovation Expo 2015 to Manchester this year saw an array of speakers from across the sector sharing their experiences, plans and goals for transformation. 

There were about 5,000 people there on both days of the event – including the NHE team – who got to hear important announcements from Simon Stevens, Jeremy Hunt, Tim Kelsey and many others. 

Kelsey, the national director for patients and information, who is leaving the organisation to take up a new post in Australia by the end of the year, announced that by the end of October, CCGs will need to complete and return a footprint and governance template for their local digital roadmaps. 

Every local health and care area is required to submit a delivery plan by April 2016 describing how they will become paper-free at the point of care by 2020, he told the Expo. Kelsey said: “This is not one of those random technology initiatives – this is going to be a fundamental part of the commissioning and regulatory infrastructure and will be a core part of CCG assurance and a core part of CQC inspections going forward.” 

The guidance says local digital roadmaps will be considered as part of the CCG assurance framework from 2016-17, and CCGs “should expect to be held to account for meeting the milestones in their roadmap”.

Kelsey also confirmed that NHS England will be launching an endorsement programme for apps, with an ‘NHS kitemark’. He said: “There are approximately 97,000 health apps. Who knows how many of those are safe or not? The NHS now needs to encourage people to use digital services and that is why we are launching the endorsement programme.”

NHS England boss Simons Stevens used his speech to outline a new roadmap for improving the health and wellbeing of NHS staff, covered in detail on the NHE website. He said the “altruism gene” meant some staff prioritised helping others over looking after their own health, but said musculoskeletal problems and stress were the main contributors to staff absence. 

He also urged people in the NHS to stop setting up false either/or options: health vs social care, local vs national, and today vs tomorrow. It is not about choosing to either deal with urgent pressures or transform for the future, he said – NHS organisations must do both. He cited figures showing a relative decline in primary care funding compared to secondary care (12% rise in real terms) since the financial crisis. He said: “It’s no great surprise that we see continuing pressure compounding into the hospital system, when you look at that disconnect in how we have used the resources at our disposal.” 

Jeroen Tas, CEO of health informatics & services at Philips Health, gave a forward-looking talk on data analysis, smart devices and the ‘internet of things’, while other highlights included a presentation from Vanguard site Dudley CCG on frontline care and collaboration, the launch of the Mental Health Taskforce report (see page 32), and calls from world-leading heart surgeon Dr Devi Shetty for a ‘global medical university’ to tackle the 12.9 million worldwide shortage in health workers. 

Joe Rafferty, chief executive of Mersey Care NHS Trust, explained how care customisation is vital if we are to make standardised systems tolerable.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt focused on digital engagement with the NHS, taking up a theme explored earlier in the day by NHS England director of strategic systems and technology, Beverley Bryant. Hunt also announced more progress on safety issues, and said doctors “misinterpreted” him if they think he said they don’t already work weekends, referring to the #ImInWorkJeremy social media campaign. 

There was an interesting session on staff engagement featuring Sally Pezaro and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS FT staff engagement lead Rhian Bishop (more on page 54), plus campaigners from the ‘Right Chair, Right Time, Right Now’ campaign – interviewed in the last edition of NHE – took to the stage to press their case for improved wheelchair services. 

We also went along to a ‘pop-up university’ session to hear reflections on the first six months of primary care co-commissioning. 

NHS England chair Sir Malcolm Grant discussed innovation and new models of care, and also addressed ‘Devo Manc’, saying: “In Manchester, with the government and the councils of Greater Manchester, we are undertaking one of the most profound changes for healthcare. It is a collaboration that will make the best of what we have.” 

That devolution was the focus for one of the expo’s largest exhibition zones, which also had sections dedicated to Digital Health, New Models of Care and Vanguard sites, and Preventing Diabetes, with exhibitors and attendees from across the NHS, local authorities and the voluntary and private sectors.

Photography © Victor de Jesus / NHS England

NHS Expo 2015

© Victor de Jesus/NHS England

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