Feedback from ‘NHS Expo’ 2018 – let’s innovate!
As long-term partner of the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance, we had the opportunity to attend the NHS Health and Care Innovation Expo on the 5th and 6th of September in Manchester. It was a unique celebration of innovation, enterprise and collaboration, uniting NHS and social care leaders, commissioners, clinicians, voluntary sector partners, innovators, industry leaders and many more. This year, there were more than 200 hours of speeches, presentations and activities across two main stages, four theatre rooms, pop-up university workshops and in the exhibition zones on the conference floor.
As headline sponsors, Teva hosted an interactive session on the Innovate Stage to discuss the value that innovation holds for the sector, which I had the opportunity to attend. They discussed the value that innovation holds for the sector and the potential that digital innovation could have in addressing long-standing healthcare challenges like medicines. This led to further discussions around understanding how to utilise digital innovations; so that NHS leaders and healthcare professionals could engage with patients more and measure outcomes.
We also had the opportunity to attend the Integrated Care Zone workshop which was based around discussions on the NHS 111 service. As part of the NHS Five Year Forward View, the NHS 111 service is available across England and can be accessed when in need of urgent healthcare, directing patients to the right local service. By 2019, enhanced triage across urgent care services will be able to book people into urgent face-to-face appointments where this is needed.
Overall I believe Expo proved to be a great place to discuss how health plays a significant role in faith communities but also highlighted the importance of working collaboratively to forge future plans. FaithAction are making strides by working closely with those leading the way, in terms of innovation to ensure it leaves a positive and lasting impact on communities.
