NHS Scotland patients to benefit from fast-track innovation scheme

NHS Scotland has launched a new initiative designed to speed up the development, assessment and roll-out of proven technological innovations to healthcare staff.

The Accelerated National Innovation Adoption (ANIA) pathway will accelerate the process of bringing innovative ideas direct to the NHS frontline and its patients by coordinating a value-focused pathway.

The ANIA pathway will lead robust value assessment to help prioritise the best innovations that promise to improve patient outcomes and experience, enhance the experience for staff and which are both financially and environmentally sustainable.

Scottish heath secretary, Humza Yousaf, said: “The Accelerated National Innovation Adoption (ANIA) pathway brings together expertise from across NHS Scotland, academia and industry to accelerate the adoption of technological innovations which will help renew and transform our healthcare services.

“Using this approach to work collaboratively means we can identify, triage, develop and deliver transformative innovations at scale to benefit patients across NHS Scotland.

“This will be targeted as supporting NHS recovery alongside improved life expectancy, faster diagnosis, improved quality of life and reduced waiting times.”

The pathway is coordinated by NHS Golden Jubilee’s national Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD). It will identify, assess and implement technological innovations on a Once for Scotland basis.

The ANIA pathway is delivered by the ANIA Collaborative, which includes the Centre for Sustainable Delivery; Digital Health and Care Scotland; Healthcare Improvement Scotland; NHS Education for Scotland; NHS National Services Scotland; Public Health Scotland; and the Scottish Health and Industry Partnership.

The use of AI on chest X-Rays, a theatre scheduling tool and digital dermatology and heart failure pathways are currently being evaluated on the ANIA pathway.

Professor Jann Gardner, chief executive of NHS Golden Jubilee and chair of the ANIA Collaborative, said: “The ANIA Collaborative are committed to seeking out innovative solutions to complex problems and to implement these at pace on a Once for Scotland basis. Working together with colleagues across NHS Scotland, academia and industry, we can be greater than the sum of our parts, bringing patient centred innovation to our patients.

Professor Gardner continued: “As a national organisation which delivers care through collaboration, NHS Golden Jubilee is delighted to be working with our NHS Scotland and Scottish Government colleagues in the ANIA Collaborative to positively impact on patient outcomes, provide faster access treatment, and ensure equal access to care.”

In other NHS Scotland news, earlier this year the health board renewed its contracts with Induction Attend Anywhere video consultation software, extending it to March of next year.