Promoting and Embedding Innovation

Since 1997 a number of „building blocks‟ have
been put in place in response to these
perceived problems (SteelFisher, 2005). For
example, the National Institute for Health and
Clinical Excellence (NICE) has become a focal
point for health technology assessment and
clinical guideline development, focusing on
appraisal of licensed products and practices
and the production of evidence-based practice
guidelines. A key aim of NICE is to engender
innovation through the rapid dissemination of
cost-effective new interventions (SteelFisher,
2005). Although NICE is seen as a world
leader in guideline development and
dissemination (WHO, 2004), the length of time
NICE takes to review the evidence has led
some to criticise it for delaying access to new
treatments and innovations (Summerhayes &
Catchpole, 2006). Furthermore, the institute‟s
outputs to date have not tended to include
advice on innovative or „disruptive‟
technologies and it has only recently begun to
provide implementation support for its
appraisal recommendations (NICE, 2008).
NICE‟s equivalent in the area of social care -
the Social Care Institute of Excellence (SCIE)
aims to spread evidence of good practice and
support transformation of social care services
(www.scie.org.uk). This is carried out through
research-based publications and resources.
A strategy to build an infrastructure to support
innovation across both health and social care
has been put in place and given impetus by
the recent Darzi review (2008). This includes
the Health Innovation Council which is charged
with providing an overview of all other features
of the innovation landscape and with
embedding innovation into all aspects of health
and social care. The council will work
particularly closely with primary care trusts and
practice-based commissioners.
English „innovation hubs‟ aligned to Strategic
Health Authority boundaries also work to
champion the cause of innovation, and to
identify and support innovation and innovative
practices which originate within the NHS.
Additional dialogue between government and
industry over the regulation and supply of
complex medical products has been pursued
in an attempt to better align the agendas of
producers and adopters (HITF, 2007)
The recently constituted NHS Technology
Adoption Centre is a national body which aims
to support the speedy adoption of innovative
technologies and is a direct response to slow
uptake within the NHS. The centre is in the
process of reviewing practice in this area and
conducting „implementation projects‟ on a
sample of technologies
(www.technologyadoptionhub.nhs.uk). As part
of its research call on technology adoption,
NIHR SDO is commissioning an evaluation of
the Centre‟s work (www.ecas.org.uk).
Another key resource for facilitating innovation
is the NHS Institute for Innovation and
Improvement (NHS Institute) which supports
the identification and spread of innovation and
improvement within the NHS via programmes
of support, training, networking, awards and
consultancy (Maher et al 2008, Mugglestone et
al 2008). Following on from the work of the
NHS Modernisation Agency, the NHS Institute
draws explicitly on the improvement literature
around social movements (Bate et al, 2004)
and experience-based design (Bate, 2007)
and has been working with the Centre for
Evidence-based Purchasing to create
implementation strategies to encourage
technology adoption within health and social
care (HITF, 2007).
11 Learning from experience