The Government and NHS England have today confirmed their intention to relicense England’s 15 Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) under the revised badge of ‘Health Innovation Networks’ (HINs), to reflect our key role in supporting development and spread of innovation across health services. Following yesterday’s (25 May) Life Sciences Council meeting, it was formally announced [...]
Come and find out more about health innovation by visiting the AHSN Network’s Innovation Feature Zone at ConfedExpo 2023. The event, which is being held this year at the Manchester Central in Manchester on 14-15 June 2023, marks the second year of the combined Confed and Expo conference. The Innovation Zone will comprise of a [...]
The AHSN Network was commissioned by NHS England to support Mental Health Trusts with the adoption of the Serenity Integrated Mentoring (SIM) model between April 2018 and March 2020. NHS England has now written to Trusts to ask that SIM and SIM-like models stop. The service users for this model have complex mental health needs [...]
An AHSN Network supported initiative is exploring opportunities to bring new innovation to women’s health. Accelerating FemTech will support innovators to boost the development of technology solutions to address current challenges in women’s health – from female-specific areas such as maternal health, fertility, gynecological cancers and menopause, to conditions that affect women disproportionally or differently, [...]
Catch-up with the AHSN Network’s Carbon accounting and measuring impact webinar, which was held on 28 April 2023 as part of our supporting NHS Net Zero and sustainability events series. Attended by over 200 delegates, the webinar explored how to effectively quantify carbon emissions, deploy projects and measure impact. The NHS is responsible for 4% [...]
A NEW app supported by the AHSN Network is helping clinicians to giver better care to patients with severe asthma on biologic therapy. The myAsthma Biologic digital therapeutic supports patients prescribed asthma biologics to manage their asthma at home and allows their clinical teams to monitor them remotely. Uncontrolled and severe asthma affects up to [...]
Thousands of people across England are benefitting from improved access to diagnostics and treatments for asthma. To mark World Asthma Day (2 May), the AHSN Network is celebrating the achievements of two national programmes which have worked in partnership to transform asthma pathways. Asthma is a common health condition, affecting more than 5.4 million people [...]
The Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt was commissioned to lead an independent review of integrated care systems (ICSs) in November 2022. The Hewitt review, which launched earlier this month (April 2023), found that Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) should be seen as ‘integral’ in embedding innovation throughout the health and care system. The report calls for [...]
Dr Cheryl Crocker, AHSN Network Patient Safety Director, took part in a round table event hosted by Aqua to consider the question: What does safety look like at a system level? The event was chaired by Professor Ted Baker, former Chief Inspector at the CQC and Chair of the Health Service Safety Investigations Body with [...]
The NHS England patient safety team has released its quarter 3, 2022/23 progress report. The report provides the latest information on how AHSNs are supporting health and care services to improve safety in these areas: Managing deterioration Mental health Medicines safety System safety Maternity and neonatal Read the progress report here.
The NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) has announced 17 new Fellows will join the programme in 2023. This is the largest cohort for the programme since its launch in 2015 and results in the programme now supporting close to 100 Fellows. The NIA is an award-winning NHS England initiative, working to support NHS Long Term [...]
The National Wound Care Strategy Programme has been working with the AHSN Network’s Transforming Wound Care programme and the Patient Experience Network to translate its compression resource into some of the most spoken languages in England and Wales, to suit a range of language preferences. The resource provides a guide to compression for people with [...]
The Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) have been working to deliver a programme aimed at reducing restrictive practice in mental health in-patient settings. Work is underway with 14% of all NHS mental health, learning disability and autism wards across England, which equates to 172 wards. Reductions in restrictive practice use in now being seen in a [...]
The AHSN Network is celebrating the five-year anniversary of magnesium sulphate being introduced to reduce the incidence of brain injury and cerebral palsy in preterm infants. Thanks to the continued commitment of every perinatal team in England, more than 16,000 preterm babies and their families have benefitted. Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs), commissioned by NHS England [...]
The Innovate Awards 2023, which celebrate innovation in health and care are back for its second year and open for entries today (Tuesday 28 February 2023), delivered collaboratively between the AHSN Network and NHS Confederation. Following the high standard and volume of entries received in 2022, a new category has been added to celebrate the [...]
The AHSN Network, working in partnership with the Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) and NICE has published a clinically approved pathway to support secondary care clinicians to optimise lipid management following an acute cardiovascular event. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of premature death and disability due to the consequences of stroke, heart attack (myocardial [...]
SBRI Healthcare, an Accelerated Access Collaborative initiative in partnership with the AHSN Network, has awarded £6 million to eighteen innovations that will help improve patient care and save money while also making the NHS greener. Climate change is a threat to global health, with more than 13 million deaths around the world each year due to [...]
A new opportunity will increase access to fast and accurate asthma testing in primary care and reduce health inequality. More than 5.4 million people in the UK are living with asthma. However, access to innovative diagnostic tools to support the diagnosis and monitoring of asthma is not equal across England, with some patients who have [...]
A growing focus on wellbeing has led people to be more aware of their physical and mental health. The AHSN Network has updated its wellbeing resource to include a selection of new materials to support the wellbeing of you and your team. From physical exercise and creativity to emotional resilience and the power of kindness, [...]
SBRI Healthcare, an Accelerated Access Collaborative initiative in partnership with the AHSN Network, has awarded over £5 million to seven innovations that support stroke patients, in collaboration with the Stroke Association. Stroke is the fourth biggest cause of death in England with more than 100,000 strokes a year in the UK. Yet despite significant progress globally in [...]
Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) have engaged nearly 11,000 care homes over the last two years, in an NHS England commissioned programme designed to help support care homes in managing deterioration. Their role is to support care homes in adopting tools that help staff to identify the early signs of physical deterioration in residents. Over 7,000 [...]
More patients are set to benefit from faster and more accurate testing for asthma thanks to a new collaboration between the AHSN Network and NIOX®. Asthma is a common health condition, affecting more than 5.4 million people in the UK and resulting in 60,000 hospital admissions each year. It has a significant impact on the [...]
The AHSN Network PReCePT National Programme to increase the use of magnesium sulfate, a £1 injection that helps prevent cerebral palsy in premature babies, is effective according to a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funded evaluation. The findings, led by researchers at the University of Bristol, are published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. [...]
Regions report successful spread of pre-term optimisation bundle which is improving care for babies Patient safety teams facilitating learning between clinical teams across the country Patient safety improvements seen in key pre-term birth optimisation areas including cord management and antenatal steroids Patient safety collaboratives (PSCs) are supporting the scaling up and spread of the Maternity [...]
The National State of Patient Safety 2022 report was produced by Imperial College London's Institute of Global Health Innovation. Patient Safety Watch, a charity founded by the Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, provided support, making the report possible. The continuous improvement of patient safety is a priority for all modern healthcare systems. Improvements can come [...]
Understanding the data webinars: 24 January and 16 March, 12-1:30pm As part of the Polypharmacy: getting the balance right programme hosted by the AHSN Network and NHS Business Services Authority (BSA), two webinars are taking place to consider how best to understand and utilise available medicines data. The programme aims to support local systems and [...]
SBRI Healthcare has awarded over £1.8 million for the development of 20 innovations that help narrow inequalities in maternity care and autism and learning difficulties as part of its ‘Competition 20 Health Inequalities’ initiative. SBRI Healthcare is an Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) initiative – a partnership between patient groups, government bodies, industry and the NHS [...]
The Digital North accelerator programme is a collaborative enterprise established by the four northern AHSNs: Yorkshire & Humber AHSN, Health Innovation Manchester, Innovation Agency (AHSN for the North West Coast) and AHSN North East and North Cumbria. It aims to support regional digital health technology firms in the adoption and spread of proven innovations within [...]
We’re proud to announce that two AHSNs have won and received highly commended at last night’s HSJ Awards ceremony (17 November 2022), which celebrates success and excellence in healthcare across the NHS. Three further AHSNs were nominated for the prestigious awards. Imperial College Health Partners (ICHP) won the Digitising Patient Care award for its work [...]
To mark ADHD Awareness Month new figures are being shared showing almost 75,000 people (aged 6-18 years) have received an objective assessment for ADHD over the last five years since Academic Health Science Networks began to support a new digital innovation, QbTest. The innovation has improved patient experience and patients require fewer appointments before being [...]
The AHSN Network has been announced as a Founding Collaborator of The Sustainable Medicines Partnership (SMP), a not-for-profit, global collaboration which undertakes projects to make the use of medicines more sustainable and less wasteful. The partnership includes leading pharma, generic and retail medicines manufacturers, distributors, supply chain, technology providers, healthcare, hospitals, pharmacy, researchers, academia, policymakers [...]
7 October 2022 We had originally intended to publish the AHSN Network’s independent review into the systems and processes that led to the adoption of SIM as a national programme during September, to coincide with the anticipated publication of NHS England’s report on SIM. This has not yet been published. We will publish the Network [...]
A new AHSN Network programme which aims to improve lower limb wound care for patients has announced its first pilot sites. The AHSN Network’s Transforming Wound Care new national spread and adoption programme aims to ensure all patients with lower limb wounds receive evidence-based care which leads to: faster healing of wounds improved quality of [...]
The inaugural winners have been named in the new awards from the AHSN Network and NHS Confederation, following an award ceremony attended by almost 400 NHS leaders, innovators and partners. Technology thought-leader and Countdown arithmetician Anne-Marie Imafidon, hosted the ceremony, which provided a fantastic celebration of excellence in health and care transformation. With more [...]
A new practical guide for innovators developing Real-World Evaluation (RWE) projects has been published by The AHSN Network. The newly published guide is now available on the AHSN Network website, ‘Real-World Evaluation to facilitate adoption at scale: a practical guide for innovators’. This simple guide will support innovators in gathering real-world evidence to support scale [...]
We’re pleased to be exhibiting at the Health Excellence Through Technology (HETT) show on 27 and 28 September 2022, at the ExCeL London. Come and see us at our exhibition stand (number E58) where you can speak to AHSN colleagues and partners; find out more about the AHSNs and how to access support; and meet [...]
A series of educational resources have been produced in a collaboration with patients and between the AHSN Network, Health Education England eLearning for healthcare (HEE elfh), the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the Royal College of Surgeons of England, to increase awareness of breast cancer prevention, for both patients and clinicians, by improving [...]
The NHS Innovation Service has been developed to accelerate the uptake of promising and impactful innovations into the NHS. Coordinated by the NHS Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC), the service aims to support the UK’s Life Science’s Vision to bring life-changing innovations to patients more quickly. The online service for healthcare innovators aims to provide the [...]
The AHSN Network is helping to tackle system-wide challenges relating to polypharmacy with the launch of a new national medicines programme, commissioned by NHS England. Polypharmacy simply means ‘many medicines’. Medicines benefit billions of people around the world and appropriate polypharmacy can extend life expectancy and improve quality of life. However it can also be [...]
Working with Boehringer Ingelheim, and the University of Plymouth, the AHSN Network has launched a new evidence-based guide to support digital health innovators and leaders to conduct meaningful patient and public involvement and engagement. The new user-friendly guide, entitled ‘How to involve and engage patients in digital health tech innovation’ has combined the results of [...]
A joint webinar and Q&A hosted by the Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI) and the AHSN Network has highlighted the support on offer from Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) for innovators, at all stages of development. The webinar, held on 30 June 2022, was hosted by Richard Phillips, Director of Strategy at ABHI, and [...]
The AHSN Network hosted a buzzing Innovation Zone at ConfedExpo 2022 on 15-16 June. Thousands of people attended this year’s event, held at the ACC in Liverpool, which gave delegates an opportunity to network, spread learning, encourage innovation and inspire change at all levels across the system. The conference consisted of several [...]
More than 286,000 people were supported at home through technology-enabled remote monitoring in 2021/22, with rapid enablement and scaling of this support spearheaded by the National Innovation Collaborative for digital health. Led by Health Innovation Manchester (HInM) on behalf of the AHSN Network, the collaborative is a learning and support system for professionals involved in [...]
The AHSN Network is making great strides in delivering the objectives set out in the NHS Patient Safety Strategy. It has released a midpoint update to its patient safety plan, which shows the positive impact being made across focus areas including maternity and neonatal care, mental health, and care homes. The Patient safety in partnership. [...]
Over the last year1, £455 million of investment has been leveraged and more than 1,800 jobs have been either created or protected as a result of the unique service offering of the AHSN Network. Economic growth figures have been released as part of our 21-22 AHSN Network Impact Report, which looks at the collective impact [...]
A new report reveals that the AHSN Network has benefited more than 480,000 patients and attracted £455 million of investment for the UK economy between April 2021-end of March 2022. The AHSN Network has released its Impact Report for 2021-22. The report summarises work undertaken by England’s 15 AHSNs on national initiatives and areas of [...]
The Academic Health Science Network (AHSN Network) and Health Education England have published a report focusing on how patients and families are supported around the time of death, and examples of good practice from healthcare organisations across England. Learning from staff reflections: supporting people at end of life is the result of a project commissioned [...]
Almost 57,000 people (aged 6-18 years) have received an objective assessment for ADHD since the AHSNs began to support a new digital innovation, QbTest. The innovation, which speeds up the time to diagnosis, has improved patient experience and saved the NHS a potential £19.5m since 2017*. It is being used in 59 trusts across 113 [...]
As living and working during the pandemic becomes the norm, the AHSN Network has published a collection of wellbeing resources to help with your physical and mental wellbeing and that of your teams. The resource pack is full of advice, tips and fun exercises anyone can try. Featuring a curated selection of resources from AHSN [...]
The AHSN Network is supporting healthcare systems to prepare for the expansion of virtual wards across England, a way of helping people to safely manage their care at home, rather than in hospital. Virtual wards may make use of remote monitoring technology and apps, alongside care from community-based teams. The AHSN Network is working with [...]
An innovative new treatment for people at risk of cardiovascular disease will be made available to patients more quickly, thanks to a three-way agreement between NHS England and NHS Improvement, the AHSN Network and the pharmaceutical company, Novartis. Approved by NICE – Inclisiran is the first of a new type of cholesterol-lowering treatment which uses [...]
The AHSN Network celebrated a win at the prestigious HSJ Awards ceremony in London on 18 November. The AHSN Network was successful in the patient safety category for the significant support Patient Safety Collaboratives and AHSNs provided to implement COVID Oximetry @home and virtual wards. The programme was delivered in partnership with NHS England and [...]
The AHSN Network is helping to transform Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) services across England with the rollout of technology that can provide an objective assessment and help families to receive a diagnosis more quickly. New figures released during ADHD Awareness Month (October) show that, since the start of the first ‘demonstrator’ site in the [...]
A report has been published that summarises the work carried out by Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) in 2020 and early 2021 to support the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 patient safety response looks at the roll-out of two patient self-monitoring pathways, COVID Oximetry @home and COVID virtual wards, both designed to allow vulnerable [...]
The AHSN Network and the NHS Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) are partnering with the cholesterol charity, HEART UK, to launch a new education programme for healthcare professionals called Tackling Cholesterol Together. Led by key national figures in cardiovascular disease, Tackling Cholesterol Together is the national professional education programme supporting the NHS England and NHS Improvement [...]
The AHSN Network and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have entered into a two-year collaboration agreement to further strengthen the use of the best evidence-based healthcare in the NHS. NICE promotes health and care excellence within the NHS and other public health and social care services by developing evidence-based guidance and [...]
The UK Government recently published its Life Sciences Vision, which sets a 10-year strategy for the sector to solve some of the biggest healthcare challenges of our generation, including cancer, dementia and using innovation to help build out of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As the innovation arm of the NHS in England, and the link [...]
Thousands of toddlers will be screened for an inherited gene that can cause early heart disease as part of a new national pilot programme delivered by the AHSN Network. Over the next two years, 30,000 children across England will be assessed using a heel prick blood test to identify if they have a ‘faulty gene’ [...]
We are working with mental health trusts and community paediatric services across England to improve the assessment process for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) for children and young people through our Focus ADHD national programme. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder and affects around 5% of school-aged children worldwide [1]. Symptoms include inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. If [...]
The AHSN Network 2020-2021 Impact Report highlights how the innovation delivery arm of the NHS has benefitted more than 258,000 patients through its national programmes during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The report highlights outstanding impacts achieved by AHSNs and evidences how they are driving adoption and spread in healthcare innovation, transforming patient outcomes, enabling efficiencies, [...]
Over the last yearbeen either created or protected as a result of work by the AHSN Network. These figures have been released as part of our 20-21 AHSN Network Impact Report, which looks at the collective impacts of England’s 15 AHSNs. Economic growth impacts are drawn from company surveys and demonstrate remarkable progress in the [...]
A report capturing the AHSN experience during the coronavirus pandemic has been published as part of the AHSN’s Health and Care Reset campaign to inform leaders across the NHS as it enters the next phase of the pandemic response. The AHSN Network Health and Care Reset Campaign was launched to collate and spread learnings and insights [...]
An in-depth study examining approaches to spreading and adopting innovation in the health sector has been published by the AHSN Network to help AHSNs, and partners, understand and harness the AHSN collective experience and expertise. The review, which identifies the different approaches used across the 15 AHSNs within the Network, highlights the complexity of spread [...]
In the first year of a new AHSN Network-backed programme, more than 260 patients with an eating disorder have been supported through the First Episode Rapid Early Intervention for Eating Disorders (FREED) model. FREED is an innovative, evidence-based, specialist care package for 16 to 25-year-olds with a first episode eating disorder of less than three [...]
The AHSN Network has partnered with the South Asian Health Foundation to set up a series of webinars to support learning and exchange opportunities with clinicians from the UK and India on COVID-19. You can find all the webinars on this AHSN Network YouTube playlist or follow these individual links: Wednesday 5 May: Remote monitoring [...]
This webinar highlighted the association between oxygen saturations and COVID-19 which underpins the need for the COVID Oximetry @home pathway. Hosted by the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Academic Health Science Network (AHSN Network), it shared a collaborative approach to monitor and manage patients at risk of sudden deterioration. The session was chaired [...]
A rapid-learning report on the role of Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) during the pandemic has been published by the AHSN Network. PSCs are just one part of the health and care system which responded quickly to the immediate crisis from COVID-19 in March. They reprioritised their day-to-day work and took on new programmes at speed, [...]
This webinar on Thursday 9 July, 1-2pm was jointly presented by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the Academic Health Science Network. Chaired by Dr Jonathan Leach OBE, RCGP Hon Sec and COVID lead, with Dr Mike Linney, Paediatrican and Registrar of the RCPCH, [...]
A toolkit for healthcare staff has been published by the National Tracheostomy Safety Project (NTSP) in collaboration with the AHSN Network and the National Patient Safety Improvement Programmes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to support healthcare staff who are looking after patients with tracheostomies. The number of patients requiring relatively prolonged ventilatory support in [...]
Detecting the early signs of deterioration in patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 is a significant challenge for health and social care teams. As patients at risk of poorer outcomes can be identified by reduced oxygen saturation levels, the ability to recognise early decreases in blood oxygen levels before the patient becomes symptomatic is [...]
Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) identify and spread safer care initiatives in their local health and care systems. As part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, here are some information and resources to support people working in secondary care. Go back to patient safety during COVID-19. Safe tracheostomy care A toolkit for healthcare staff has [...]
Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) identify and spread safer care initiatives in their local health and care systems. As part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, here are some information and resources to support people working in primary care. Go back to patient safety during COVID-19. Pulse oximetry and remote monitoring guidance COVID virtual ward [...]
Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) identify and spread safer care initiatives in their local health and care systems. As part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, here are some information and resources to support staff in care homes. Go back to patient safety during COVID-19. Spotting serious illness and sepsis Some people are more at [...]
If you work in a residential care home, or are a professional or family carer supporting someone in their own home, there are many tools available help you recognise physical deterioration and take the appropriate actions. You can read an overview of spotting serious illness and sepsis. These films explain the soft signs of deterioration [...]
The National Early Warning Score (NEWS) is used by GPs, all ambulance services and most acute hospital trusts to check patients who may be at increasing risk of deterioration or developing sepsis. You can read an overview of spotting serious illness and sepsis. How NEWS works NEWS has been created by the Royal College of [...]
This webinar on Wednesday 27 May 2020 shared examples of current good practice and collaboration between primary care and care homes, including resources to support virtual ward rounds. Chaired by Dr Jonathan Leach OBE, RCGP Hon Sec and COVID lead, with Anita Astle MBE, Managing Director of Wren Hall Nursing Home in Nottingham, and Dr [...]
The assessment of patients who are unwell with COVID-19 or other causes presents a significant challenge for GPs and clinicians working in primary care. The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the AHSN Network held a joint webinar looking at the role of oximetry and other physiology in that assessment on Wednesday 29 April [...]
People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at increased risk from coronavirus. The British Thoracic Society (BTS) has developed COPD admission and discharge care bundles with the aim of improving care, helping patients manage their condition at home, and reducing readmissions. Acute hospital trusts are being encouraged to deliver all appropriate elements of the [...]
Patient Safety Collaboratives and the Academic Health Science Networks which host them, are supporting their local health and care systems during the response to the COVID-19 outbreak in hospitals, care homes and the community. There are resources available here for people working in: Care homes Primary care Hospitals, mental health and community services The AHSN Network [...]
The National Early Warning Score (NEWS) is associated with a reduction in mortality in those patients admitted with a possible diagnosis of sepsis without increasing the overall number of admissions, according to a paper published today in the British Journal of General Practice (BJGP). Alison Tavaré, one of the paper’s authors has also written a [...]
Health Education England has published a set of materials and films which aim to support staff through difficult conversations arising from the COVID-19 outbreak. The AHSN Network was part of a small group of people that helped pull this resource together in less than two weeks. The framework includes posters and films based on the [...]
Some people are more at risk than others of becoming unwell very quickly and developing a serious illness such as sepsis. This is known as ‘deterioration’ and it is important that anyone who cares for individuals who are at risk of deterioration knows how to spot the signs, especially during the current COVID-19 outbreak. This [...]
Wessex and the West of England Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) and West Hampshire CCG, funded by Health Education England, have collaborated to produce a series of free videos and e-learning materials to support staff working in care homes to care for residents who are at risk of deterioration. As recognised in a recent paper [...]
A new report highlighting the compelling business case for increased diversity in innovation in the NHS is to be launched by the AHSN Network at Health and Care Innovation Expo 2019 in Manchester today, Wednesday 4 September 2019. The report ‘Diversity and innovation – a celebration of BAME innovators and our pledges to do [...]
