February 10, 2010

 NHS East Midlands has allocated £340,000 to over 28 innovative projects across the region to deliver higher quality services at a lower cost and offer frontline NHS organisations and their partners the chance to get their great ideas into practice.

The cash has been distributed to projects from a Regional Innovation Fund held by NHS East Midlands, which was launched in September last year and will award up to £2 million over the next three years.  Organisations were invited to bid for money to be invested in a range of ideas that would speed up the time it takes for innovative solutions to get from the design bench to the ‘bedside’.

The Fund was established to offer frontline health care staff the opportunity to turn their ideas into action and inspire more than 100,000 NHS staff across the East Midlands to help improve services.  Over 170 bids were received in total from NHS Trusts in the region so it was important to have a robust selection and allocation process in place to award the projects. The overwhelming response highlights the commitment and dedication from NHS staff to continual improvements in patient care.   

The rigorous allocation process included an initial application, a thorough panel assessment with professional experts from the relevant sectors with the desired skills and a contract delivery schedule.  This ensures that the money allocated will add significant benefit to patients and increase the quality of the care they receive in the current economically challenging environment.

Trusts were encouraged to apply against a number of key categories that support the priorities of their NHS organisation, address areas of clinical need or meet specific challenges suggested by frontline staff that could be solved through innovative thinking.

Kathy McLean, Medical Director at NHS East Midlands says: “By financially supporting the wide variety of innovative projects that have been allocated funds, we offer more creative solutions; closer partnership working across different staff and organisations and speed up the rate of implementation.  This provides leading edge clinical service delivery and the best possible care experiences for patients in the East Midlands.”

Click here for more information about the 2009/10 successful projects.