The second annual Innovate Awards were held yesterday (Thursday 21 September) at a ceremony in London, attended by NHS leaders, innovators, and partners.

The Innovate Awards, delivered in partnership between the AHSN Network and NHS Confederation, celebrate innovation in health and care.

Technology thought-leader and Countdown arithmetician, Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE, hosted the ceremony. The keynote speech was delivered by Dr Vin Diwakar, the incoming National Director of Transformation in NHS England.

With more than 190 entries received, the expert panel of judges selected the following winners:

Winner

  • C2-Ai + Cheshire and Merseyside ICS – Prioritisation of the elective waiting list and prehabilitation

Highly commended

  • PCMIS Health Technologies Ltd & University of Sheffield – Data-driven feedback technology to improve psychological therapy recovery rates

Finalist

  • Livewell Southwest: Improving outcomes for people with deteriorating wounds through data insights
  • NHS Lancashire Procurement Cluster with Unipart: How using data enabled proactive stock management to improve patient care
  • NHS North of England Care System Support: OPTICA

Winner

Highly Commended

  • Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust: The NHS Community workforce of the future

Finalists

  • Aneurin Bevan University Health Board / NHS Wales: Improving our employee investigations
  • Humber and North Yorkshire ICB: 180 Days
  • ImproveWell & Burns Service Chelsea & Westminster NHS Foundation Trust: Empowering the workforce to drive change at the Burns Service, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Winner

Finalists

  • Alder Hey Children’s Hospital: Little Hearts At Home
  • Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust with Oxehealth: Adopting non-contact monitoring technology to improve safety and care quality on mental health inpatient wards
  • Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust: OpenPredictor: Supporting elective recovery with NHS lead innovation in AI
  • UCLPartners and NCL Integrated Care Board: Using technology to improve outcomes for care homes residents through early identification and escalation of deterioration

Winner

  • University of Southampton: Championing patient co-design of an innovative resource to transform cancer genetics care pathways

Highly commended

  • Breast Cancer Now: Breast Cancer Now’s Service Pledge: Using the power of the patient voice to improve breast cancer services

Finalists

  • Cardiff and Vale UHB; ImROC: Co-production – From Rhetoric to Reality in Cardiff and Vale
  • NIHR Devices for Dignity Medtech Cooperative, University of Sheffield, Israac Community Association, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS FT, Therapy Box: Partnership working to build AI health technology without bias
  • Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust: Improving patient experience through evidence based practice with co-production
  • University of Sheffield: For children with children: co-production of a patient information video on treatment options to treat tooth decay in primary teeth

Winner

Highly commended

  • NHS GM Bury: myHappymind in Bury

Finalists

  • Brent ICP (Brent Council, NHS CLCH, NHS CNWL, VCS Partners):Brent Health Matters
  • Childrens Hospital Alliance: WNB AI Innovation – Using predictive analytics in outpatient services to assist patients and families in attending healthcare appointments
  • Devon Partnership NHS Trust: Addressing mental health inequalities through a NICE recommended Digital Therapeutic Intervention (Lumi Nova)
  • North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust: Improving hospital attendance through a health equity lens

Winner

  • AHSN & Qbtech: Focus ADHD: Improving ADHD is diagnoses in children and young people

Highly commended

  • Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System: Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System – Use of WHZAN for Remote Monitoring

Finalists

  • Betsi Cadwaladr University LHB in conjunction with IBEX Medical Analytical, SBRI and The All Wales Digital Pathology group: A pioneering AI revolution for Pathology across Wales.
  • GM NHS Bury: myHappymind in Bury
  • Wessex AHSN: Improving asthma diagnosis and outcomes through increased access to Fractional exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) testing in primary care across England

Winner

Highly commended

  • NHS Cheshire & Merseyside: NHS Cheshire and Merseyside – World’s 1st Multimorbidity Multispecialty Heart Failure MDT

Finalists

  • NHS Cheshire and Merseyside: NHS Cheshire and Merseyside – Virtual Ward National Evaluation Site
  • NHS Cheshire and Merseyside: The UK’s First Remote Monitoring Enabled Acute Heart Failure Virtual Ward
  • Sunderland GP Alliance: Sunderland Clinical Support Information

Winner

  • Open Medical: Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust Achieves Remarkable Carbon Emission Savings with PathpointⓇ eTrauma and VFC

Highly commended

  • Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust and NHS Kent and Medway: A recipe for emissions reduction success – A transparent and standardised methodology for carbon emission measurement through the NHS Emissions Quantification Recipe Book

Finalists

  • Centre for Sustainable Healthcare (CSH): Net Zero Is In Your Hands- empowering clinicians to lead the journey
  • NHS Lancashire & South Cumbria ICB and Redmoor Health: The move to Net Zero in NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICS in partnership with Redmoor Health
  • The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust: Fast Forward Sustainability

Winner

Highly commended

  • NHS Lothian and vCreate: Secure video integration and innovation by NHS Lothian

Finalists

  • Barts Trust in partnership with EXI: Revolutionising Health Services through EXI: Empowering Lifestyle Behaviour Change
  • Betsi Cardwali University Health Board & Metis Health: Hydra System
  • West of England Academic Health Science Network: Digital Health Champions: A collaborative and novel implementation strategy for digital therapeutics in COPD

Winner

Highly commended

  • Holgate PCN and Energy Systems Catapult: Scaling up Warm Home Prescription in England and Scotland: a collaboration in Middlesborough between a PCN, social prescribers and energy advisors

Finalists

  • Everyturn Mental Health: Waiting List Support Service
  • Humber and North Yorkshire ICB: Increasing Referrals to Lifestyle Programmes in Diabetes
  • NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board, Cyted Ltd: Cytoprime 1

Winner

  • Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust: Use of oVRcome Virtual Reality Headsets to reduce social anxiety and phobias associated with Hospital visits in patients with Learning Disability and Autism in Mid and South Essex

Finalists

  • South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board: The Community Mental Health Crisis Alternatives Alliance
  • The Essential Baby Co. In the Community CIC: The Bridge Project: Black Baby Loss Awareness Week
  • The Shuri Network: The Shuri Network – Diversity in Digital Health

C2-Ai + Cheshire and Merseyside ICS

Richard Stubbs, Vice Chair of the AHSN Network and Chief Executive of Yorkshire and Humber AHSN, led the coordination of the awards.

He said: “As always it is incredibly humbling and inspiring to be able to recognise and celebrate the amazing work of our NHS staff and their partners as they improve the ways in which the health service provides patient care.

“There is so much energy and dedication shown by frontline staff to make sure that we all have the best outcomes and experiences when we need to use the NHS.

“Our job now is to make sure that all this amazing work is spread to every corner of the country so that everyone can benefit from these innovations.

“Well done to everyone who applied for the Innovate Awards, and congratulations to the fantastic winning teams.”

Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive at NHS Confederation, added: “Innovation is happening across the healthcare system – it’s essential that we take time out both to recognise and celebrate the achievements of NHS organisations and staff and highlight this to the wider NHS.

“Through shared learning, these innovations can reduce operational pressures and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare delivery for patients. This second year of the Innovate Awards is a fantastic way to acknowledge the continuing hard work and creativity of NHS staff and help share this more widely across the whole service.

“We are delighted to have received over 190 submissions this year – thank you to everyone who shared their expertise and inventiveness and took the time to enter the awards.”

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