NISE in the CIty

It's been all go on the exhibitions front! No sooner had Dr. Tony Hill and Dr. David Lubega left the NHS Innovations stand at this year's NHS Confederation Conference in Liverpool than they were off to London where, with representatives from the other eight Hubs, they mounted another joint exhibition at the first-ever Healthcare Innovations EXPO.

NISE's Chief Executive, Dr. John Stedman led a small group of Hub CEO's who met junior Health Minister Lord Darzi and NHS Chief Executive David Nicholson when they visited the NHS Innovations stand on the second day of EXPO. (Dr. Stedman is in the centre of the picture, immediately behind Lord Darzi.) The NHS Innovation Hubs play a crucial role in driving the innovation agenda - and have a wealth of experience in taking ideas from every part of the NHS and assisting in their development, diffusion and adoption. It was, then, an ideal opportunity for them to hear first-hand about the hubs many achievements ? and about the challenges they face in the future.

Six NISE innovations featured on the shared stand; among them the award-winning EDGE™ clinical trials software. The brainchild of James Batchelor and David Miller of the Central South Coast Cancer Research Network, EDGE™ negates the need for teams of data analysts to 'number crunch'. Instead, it enables research nurses and other clinicians involved in trials to input information directly, whilst allowing trial managers and other authorized professionals to access detailed real-time data from any location. EDGE™ attracted a huge amount of interest from EXPO delegates, as did the Emotional First Aid kit ? a very different innovation designed to ensure that young people experiencing emotional problems or mental ill health receive the best possible initial response. Between them, NISE 's team of innovations experts, led by Tony Hill and David Lubega, were able to talk to delegates not only about the innovations on display but also the wider innovation agenda, offering advice on how NHS organizations can develop an effective innovations strategy.

As well as meeting delegates on the stand, the hubs ran a series of seminars on such topics as 'Demand-led Innovation', 'Partnering for Innovative Solutions', 'Embedding Innovation' and 'Sustaining Cultural Change in the NHS'. If you would like one of the team to come along and talk to you and your staff about these or other innovations-related topics, you can contact us by e-mailing info@nhsinnovations.co.uk

Last but definitely not least, NISE was busy in the "Innovation House", a stand dedicated to innovations designed to assist patients and careers in a home environment. Here, the "Follow Us" dementia tracking device aroused particular interest; there was no 'sloping-off' for coffee as the staff were able to locate colleagues wearing the Follow Us 'wrist watch' device.

NISE...helping NHS staff bring ideas to life!