
NHS England has named eleven new projects chosen for the latest round of an initiative to develop and spread ideas, equipment and technology that can potentially save lives and money.
The NHS Innovation Accelerator programme was launched in July 2015 with the over-riding goal of creating the conditions and culture changes necessary to accelerate adoption of cutting-edge solutions and thus boost patient care.
As such, NHS adoption of successful is promoted by the 15 NHS Academic Health Science Networks across the country, in order to accelerate their uptake and impact.
Included in the third round of the NHS Innovation Accelerator programme are: RespiraSense, a wireless device that measures breathing through chest and abdomen movements, that might aid early detection of and more effective treatment of conditions such as sepsis and pneumonia; and WaitLess, an app showing patients with minor injuries where they can go to access the quickest treatment, using real time waiting times and traffic/travel information.
Also on the list is an app that allows pregnant women at risk of pre-eclampsia to input blood pressure readings and urine test results and answer questions to help identify the condition, linked to a hospital computer system where the data can be monitored by clinicians in real time.
“Modern medicine is on the cusp of a huge shift in how care is delivered, and practical innovations like these show how NHS patients will now directly benefit,” said Simon Stevens, NHS England chief executive. “More tests and patient monitoring will be done at home or on the move, without the need to pitch up to a doctors appointment or hospital outpatients.”
NHS England said it has also opened an Innovation Technology Payment system to help NHS organisations quickly spread new innovations, with the first group of supported technologies to be announced next year.