NHS Searches New Innovations. Apply Until 24 October

NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) provides bespoke support to innovators with compelling evidence-based innovations, to enable their innovations to be taken up at pace across the NHS. Eligible innovations must address one or more of the following priorities: prevention and early diagnosis (cancer, cardiovascular disease), mental health, primary care. Professor Tony Young, national clinical lead for innovation at NHS England, said: “It will allow exciting innovations to flourish and spread as NHS England is once again prepared to support innovators and foot the bill for a select group of products so patients can benefit faster.” Health Minister Lord O’Shaughnessy said: “Technology has the potential to transform healthcare and we must do all we can to break down the barriers that prevent patients from accessing the best possible treatment.”

Technology has the potential to transform healthcare

Since NHS Innovation Accelerator was launched in 2015, 36 innovators representing 37 innovations have been supported with an additional 1,423 NHS sites using their innovations. The NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA), is a national accelerator supporting dedicated individuals (‘Fellows’) to scale their high impact, evidence-based innovations across the NHS and wider healthcare system. It aims to:

• Help create the conditions and cultural change necessary for proven innovations to be adopted faster and more systematically in the NHS
• Deliver innovation into practice for demonstrable patient and population benefit
• Learn from Fellows’ experiences so that others benefit from knowledge generated

Innovations supported on the latest round of the NIA include: WaitLess – An app that shows patients with minor injuries where they can go to access the quickest treatment, using real time waiting times and traffic/travel information. Dip.io – A tool that provides patients with clinically accurate urine analysis from home in a matter of minutes, helping to identify Chronic Kidney Disease and UTIs as well as pre-eclampsia in pregnant women. Patients perform a dipstick test at home and then, using the app, take a picture of the dipstick against a special backing. The analysis is then sent through the app directly to the patient’s doctor for diagnosis. Applications for the NIA are open until midnight on 24 October 2018, should be made on the NHS Innovation Accelerator website