The finalists below are for the category of innovation of the year.
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation Trust
Overview. The trust developed therapy clusters to provide a virtual forum to improve communication and understanding within the system. The clusters create a non-hierarchical, structured and creative platform for collaborative working to help the therapy workforce have a system impact.
Why? The clusters highlight what can be achieved when people are given permission and opportunity to work beyond their boundaries, providing an example of ground-up innovation. Pre-pandemic, teams worked primarily within siloes and therapy presented as very insular.
What happened? Recognising that sharing knowledge would solve common problems, the trust created a platform where therapy staff can come together to collaboratively solve system issues, using partners and peers to think differently and move beyond boundaries to create solutions. The trust particularly sought to reach therapists whose roles mean that they work in isolation, and those in smaller teams, providing a peer support and contact opportunity as well. The clusters have worked on issues from large system-wide challenges to smaller but still important topics such as CPD and training. Feedback from frequent attendees is positive with staff reporting improved CPD, wellbeing, networking and confidence; staff have said that they have gained “real energy and drive” from attending and feel empowered by the clusters. This, and the subsequent discussions taking place at clusters, has a knock-on effect to improve patient experience in therapy too.
Looking ahead. Along with continuing to improve experiences for both staff and patients, other systems have been in touch with the trust with regards to replicating the model.
Yorkshire Health Partners Ltd
Overview. Yorkshire Health Partners (YHP) mobilised a pilot service which identifies non-hospitalised patients’ eligibility for anti-viral therapy in line with COVID medicines in primary care settings across the ICS.
Why? The pilot aimed to ease pressures on services and support identified vulnerable non-hospitalised patients as they were at higher risk of being unwell and becoming hospitalised if they got COVID.
What happened? Recognising the pressures on services, YHP worked through a three-phase pilot to enable community pharmacies to dispense COVID anti-virals to patients from a setting closer to their own homes, whilst relieving admin and time pressures on staff. The service is now delivered through a primary care model, meaning that patients are triaged, assessed for treatment and receive that treatment within 48 hours of initial referral.
Looking ahead. YHP is currently working to further enhance the service by developing a self-referral platform for patients with a digital provider. They have been awarded a 12-month contract following the successful mobilisation of this pilot in primary care. In addition, YHP notes that it is a “learning organisation” with a focus on building sustainability across the wider system by developing flexible, responsive approaches.
Careology
Overview. Careology launched a pilot with Nuffield Health to demonstrate how cancer care can be improved using connected remote monitoring and engagement technology.
Why? The pilot aimed to tackle some of the main problems cancer services are currently facing, such as backlogs, workforce shortages and escalating costs impacting cancer survival rates.
What happened? The pilot enabled cancer patients at Nuffield Health Derby Hospital to access a digital care support solution, allowing them to feel connected and in control of their health. Patients can log symptoms and metrics so that they can monitor their own health and better understand their cancer journey. Meanwhile, Careology’s remote monitoring technology enables Nuffield nurses to proactively manage patients in a scalable and efficient manner. Careology and Nuffield Health worked collaboratively during the pilot to ensure that the platform would benefit all, with feedback from nurses and patients regularly collected and fed into Careology’s development process. The lead nurse now uses the solution 96 percent of the time, and on average over 65 percent of patients using the app each month logged how they were doing and engaged in self-care.
Looking ahead. Due to the success of this pilot, a roll-out has been scheduled across 11 Nuffield Health sites.
ShinyMind Ltd and NHS Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes ICB
Overview. The Shine ‘Wellbeing Prescription’ programme has been co-created with NHS clinicians as a new psychological staff programme and innovative digital patient resource in order to support the mental health of primary care staff and patients.
Why? Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes ICB needed to urgently address the increasing demand and pressures on primary care services and staff to provide proactive and personalised care to prevent ill health across patient populations.
What happened? The ICB collaborated with ShinyMind to co-create the programme, piloting it across 30 GP practices. The technology provides personalised ‘wellbeing prescriptions’ for topics such as stress, coping with anxiety, sleep, stress, resilience and more. In addition, it provides daily mental health support and health nudges amongst other interactive resources. The GP team initially undertakes a psychological wellbeing programme using the established ShinyMind app, which in turn creates clinician-led advocacy as they support patients to take a digital wellbeing prescription. To date, 91 percent of staff have reported improvement in wellbeing, and 83 percent of patients saying they would recommend it to others.
Looking ahead. The ICB is rolling out the programme to all GP practices and working with IAPT services in the region to support their waiting lists. Expected long-term benefits include reduced staff workload and improved morale, improved access for patients via the digital solution and ICB-wide benefits through reduction of health inequalities.
