“There is no way health will be delivered without funding in technology innovation” was the message for CTOs at the Birmingham Science City ideasforlife CTO Group breakfast meet, hosted by SCC.
BSC Board and Chair of CTO Group welcomed more than 25 of the West Midlands’ top CTOs to the European technology firm’s Birmingham headquarters, with key note addresses by Bethan Bishop, Head of Innovation at Heart of England Healthcare Trust, and Mental Health Consultant George Tadros.
Sleigh discussed Horizon 2020, an £80bn investment in increased innovation, highlighting the importance an industry-Government axis across all areas in the UK.
Bishop, who has spent 15 years putting links between the NHS and the industry, echoed Sleigh’s sentiments, predicting continued rapid change in the Public Sector as it tries to keep up with the pace of technology.
“The expectation is increasingly that we will do more for less, and it’s important that we carry out evaluation and view partnerships as important.
“Regardless of the need to innovate, society demands that technology moves on and service is improved on a par with personal technology.
“We may have experienced hardship in terms of budget and under-performance, but innovation and technology will help, within the right business model.”
Bishop is head of MIDRU, an organisational response designed to accelerate research and innovation development.
MIDRU fosters innovation by allowing frontline NHS staff to inform and guide, and Bishop is confident that a network of ‘innovation champions’ and the autonomy to ‘try new things and get the job done’ is the best way to drive innovation adoption throughout the NHS.
“Our small team has built a big community as the eyes and ears across the NHS,” she added. “Everything, strategic or not, has to be achieved through partnership and collaboration.
“We help our organisation identify and gain a full, fundamental understanding of the challenges we face and then work towards achieving service improvement in an innovative way.”
Closing the meet, Mental Health Consultant George Tadros provoked thought around the perception of dementia, stressing the lack of real understanding despite long-term plans to improve patient provision.
“Everybody will develop dementia if they live to be 75, and those who make it to 50 now have a 50/50 chance of living to 100.
“Times have changed and the modern portrayal of aging is not slumping after our peak, but seeing an improvement in quality of life. That is what patients want and technology is the enabler to make that happen.
“We can’t continue to spend the amount we are on finding a solution by 2025. The solution needs to come sooner and we need to fully understand the requirements of dementia patients to enable an optimised standard of home living.”
