January 2012 - Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals

SWBTB (1/12) 269(a)
2.3 Creating a System for Delivery of Innovation
It is proposed that in order to deliver some of the recommendations outlined in this
report that key actions will include:
A. Establishment of a number of Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs)
across the country, the first going live during 2012/13. Working with
stakeholders from across the NHS and scientific community, academia, the
third sector and local authorities, the AHSNs will link up the system and
drive up diffusion of innovation.
B. The report proposes that every local NHS organization should aspire to be
affiliated to its local AHSN, which would act as a high quality, high value
gateway for any NHS organization needing support with innovation and
provide industry focused points of access to the NHS.
2.4 Incentives and Investment
The report indicates that financial, operational and performance incentives will be
aligned to support the adoption and diffusion innovation, each of which will have
direct impact upon the Trust. Namely, this will include the following:
A. Developing and introducing a shared savings formula to break down silo
budgeting and encourage cross boundary working.
B. Developing a tariff for assistive technologies that would incentivise their
spread.
C. Continue work on payment for outcomes in order to incentive cost effective
means of delivering care directly through the tariff.
D. The DH will commission the NHS improvement body to work with
organisations locally to help make best use of existing local tariff flexibilities,
including best practice tariffs.
E. Explore options for an unbundled tariff for diagnostics and other scientific
services.
F. The ‘never events’ regime will be extended to drive out clinically unsafe and
outdated practice.
G. NICE will produce clearer guidance on activity and tariff which should be
de-commissioned as a result of improved practice, and the NHS
Commissioning Board will encourage disinvestment in activities that no
longer add value.
H. A Specialised Services Commissioning innovation fund will be established
2.5 Procurement
In order to support the recommendations of the Innovation, Health and Wealth
report it is proposed that:
A. A procurement strategy will be published in March 2012 by the DH.
B. This is likely to enable ‘open dialogue’ with suppliers in product surgeries
outside of a procurement tendering process
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