NHS patients and clinicians are to benefit from ground-breaking digital health technology thanks to a fresh new drive - an Accelerator - helping small to medium digital health businesses develop and pioneer health care technology specifically for the NHS.
The DigitalHealth.London Accelerator, is part of DigitalHealth.London and will work with 30 small digital health businesses each year over an initial three-year period, providing help with engagement with clinicians and healthcare experts, so companies can refine their products and gain advice such as navigating the intricacies of the NHS, understanding how to work with sensitive data and opportunities to showcase new technologies in hospitals.
Life Sciences Minister George Freeman launched DigitalHealth.London at City Hall in February with the aim of speeding up the use of new digital health technologies by bringing together clinicians, healthcare providers, research institutes, entrepreneurs and industry to give companies a clearer route to market based on the needs of patients, the NHS and wider health sector.
Speaking at an Accelerator information day held recently, Dr Tony Newman-Sanders, Consultant Radiologist and Chief Clinical Information Officer, Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, said "This is a really exciting time to be involved in healthcare in this country, but we will not be able to continue to improve quality of health and care whilst maintaining financial sustainability without a great deal of innovation and we need to work together. Clinicians need to recognise that they have as much to learn from digital professionals as vice versa, and innovators need to be aware that it is all very well developing a product to solve a solution, but is that problem big enough to get the attention of the person you are trying to sell it to?"
Applications are now open for digital health SMEs and anybody interested in applying before 25th April should visit: http://digitalhealth.london/accelerator/applications/
The Accelerator is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and delivered by Guy's & St Thomas's NHS Foundation Trust operating through the Health Innovation Network, UCLPartners, Imperial College Healthcare Partners, CW+, MedCity and the Digital Catapult.
For further information, please visit:
http://digitalhealth.london/accelerator/
About the Health Innovation Network - AHSN for South London
The Health Innovation Network is the Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) for South London. We are a membership organisation that is a catalyst and facilitator of change across the whole health and social care economy in South London, with a clear focus on supporting and enabling improved patient outcomes for our members across the diverse communities of South London's 12 boroughs. We are driving lasting health improvements for our local communities across the following clinical priorities: diabetes, dementia, musculoskeletal, alcohol, with cross-cutting themes across patient experience, patient safety, technology & information, wealth creation, capacity building.
About Digital Catapult
The Digital Catapult develops breakthroughs for the UK around four areas of opportunity:
1. Sharing closed data between organisations
2. Sharing personal data in a way that’s secure and trusted
3. Sharing content and licensed data more simply
4. Sharing data generated across the Internet of Things
These are the hard kinds of data to share, but offer huge potential - an estimated £200bn of value could be unlocked for the UK. We do this by sparking pioneering collaborations and marketplaces to accelerate economic growth and productivity. Our first centre opened in London in November 2014 and there is now a growing network of Digital Catapult Centres and communities across the UK. From running pilot projects through to large scale initiatives, the Digital Catapult takes actions to fix real problems and enables innovation to happen with impact.
About UCLPartners
UCLPartners is a leading academic health science partnership that brings together people and organisations to transform the health and wellbeing of the population. Working in partnership and at pace, its members from the NHS and higher education support the healthcare system serving over six million people in parts of London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Essex.
About Imperial College Health Partners
Imperial College Health Partners is a partnership organisation bringing together NHS providers of healthcare services, clinical commissioning groups and leading universities across North West London. We support our local health system to provide the best possible care and health outcomes for North West London's 2.3 million residents through collaboration and innovation.
About CW+
CW+ is the charity for Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. We exist to make care better for patients and their families. From our base at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital we bring together pioneering research, innovation, art and design to transform the experience and outcomes for thousands of people every day - in our hospital, in the wider community and all around the world. We do this by: Raising funds for education, delivering an award-winning art and design programme to transform the hospital environment and Investing in financially sustainable innovations.
European Regional Development Fund
The project is receiving £1.8M of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Department for Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for ERDF. Established by the European Union, ERDF funds help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations.