Cross Sector clusters set up for NHS innovation

Tue

Dec

2009

Cross Sector clusters set up for NHS innovation

New bodies that combine the expertise of industry, health and education have been formed to promote innovation in the NHS. Health Innovation and Education Clusters (HIECs) are cross sector partnerships between NHS organisations, the Higher Education sector and blue chip companies.

Through joint working HIECs will provide professional education and training and promote innovation in healthcare by speeding up the adoption of research. They will also provide professional education and training.

Over £11 million will be given to the 17 successful applicants that were chosen by an Independent Award Panel Chaired by Sir Alan Langlands, Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

The HIEC concept was originally developed by a group of leaders from the NHS and university sector during the NHS Next Stage Review as one of the ways to deliver high quality healthcare.

A national HIECs Project Board was set up in February 2009. A call for expressions of interest was issued on 7 May and bids were received at the end of October 2009.

The winning HIEC projects are:

*SHA*	*HIEC*	*Work programme*
NHS East Midlands	East Midlands HIEC Principal partner - University of Leicester	Focus on NHS East Midlands regional priorities. Including work on Acute Care Transformation, Stroke, COPD and Leadership development
NHS East of England	Cambridge University Health Partners Regional HIEC Principal partner - Cambridge University Health Partners	10 goals mapped to national goals and regional ‘pledges' including early work on management of long term conditions, and improving end of life care.
NHS East of England	Norfolk and Waveney HIEC Principal partner - Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust	Older people: mental health, acute services, long term conditions and end of life care.
NHS London	North East London, North Central London, and Essex HIEC Principal partner - Queen Mary University of London	Prevention, acute care, chronic conditions.
NHS London	North West London HIEC Principal partner - Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust	Cancer and cardiovascular services
NHS London	South London HIEC Principal partner - Kings College London	Diabetes, mental health, stroke and infection.
NHS North East	North East Quality Accelerator HIEC Principal partner - One North East	Long term conditions, care of the dying, enhancing rural access to health and care closer to home
NHS North West	Greater Manchester HIEC Principal partner - Manchester PCT	Long term conditions, cancer, mental health, dementia and stroke
NHS North West	Merseyside and Cheshire HIEC Principal partner - University of Liverpool	Drug safety, children's health, mental and physical health, cancer
NHS North West	Lancashire and Cumbria HIEC Principal partner - North Lancashire Teaching PCT	Stroke, mental health and end of life care.
NHS South Central	Thames Valley HIEC Principal partner - Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust	Service integration, patient safety and patient and public involvement.
NHS South Central	Wessex HIEC Principal partner - University of Southampton	Telecare, service transformation and preventative and public health improvements
NHS South West	HIEC South West Principal partner - University of Bristol	Maternity and newborn care, planned care - anaesthetic and pain management, prevention
NHS West Midlands	Keele, Staffordshire, Stoke and Shropshire HIEC Principal partner - Keele University	Closely aligned with NHS West Midlands ‘Fit for the future' programme
NHS West Midlands	West Midlands Central HIEC Principal partner - University of Birmingham	Education mapping and advisory service, workforce planning, education quality, knowledge management, innovation and re-design, industry and technical innovation.
NHS West Midlands	West Midlands South HIEC Principal partner - The University of Warwick	Long term conditions, dementia and end of life care
NHS Yorkshire and the Humber	Yorkshire and the Humber HIEC Principal partner - Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	Long term conditions, maternal and infant health and patient safety