Patients will benefit from fast-track innovation scheme
Scottish patients will benefit from an exciting initiative to speed up the development, assessment and effective rollout of proven technological innovations into Scotland’s healthcare frontline.
Launched to healthcare staff at the NHS Scotland Event 2022 today (Tuesday 21 June 2022), the Accelerated National Innovation Adoption (ANIA) pathway is designed to assess, prioritise and scale up high impact innovations in a ‘Once for Scotland’ approach.
ANIA will help to speed up the process of bringing innovative ideas to patients by connecting and coordinating a value-focused pathway.
Critically, ANIA will lead robust value assessment to help prioritise the best innovations that will improve patient outcomes and experience, improve staff experience and which are both financially and environmentally sustainable.
To make the most of the opportunities, ANIA will ensure we create the conditions for success, such as workforce, training, infrastructure and clinical leadership.
Value cases to secure investment for national adoption will be developed for innovations that meet the evidence threshold, have sufficient clinical support and are ready for service adoption.
Innovations currently being evaluated on the ANIA pathway include digital dermatology and heart failure pathways, chest x-ray artificial intelligence and a theatre scheduling tool.
Coordinated by NHS Golden Jubilee’s national Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD), the ANIA pathway will:
- Identify, assess and implement technological innovations on a Once for Scotland basis.
- Use the range of skills available across NHSScotland to quickly and safely roll out these innovations nationally, helping more patients to be seen faster.
- Support ANIA partners to contribute their expertise to move high impact innovations along the ANIA pathway at an accelerated pace.
- Enable joint planning with territorial NHS Boards for accelerated adoption and implementation of innovations and associated service change, providing equal access to patients across Scotland.
- Ensure only the highest impact, evidence-based innovations that align to Scottish Government priorities are adopted nationally.
Heath Secretary Humza Yousaf MSP 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 ANIA pathway is delivered by the ANIA Collaborative, which includes the national 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 national Centre for Sustainable Delivery at NHS Golden Jubilee is responsible for overall coordination, governance and programme management of the ANIA pathway.
Professor Jann Gardner, Chief Executive of NHS Golden Jubilee and Chair of the ANIA Collaborative, commented:
“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.
“The national Centre for Sustainable Delivery at NHS Golden Jubilee has been set up specifically to renew and transform healthcare services across NHS Scotland.
“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.”
Notes to Editors
How the ANIA pathway works
Following submission of an ANIA referral form, high impact innovations will progress along the ANIA pathway if they meet the ANIA criteria:
- A clear problem statement linked and aligned with national policy and clinical need.
- Clear evidence of impact and value – with significant transformational potential, potentially including previous testing within NHSScotland.
- Agreement from the relevant clinical community that this is a national priority.
Innovation programmes that progress through the various ANIA stage gates will move to the development of a Value Case, which will clearly articulate both the value proposition to NHS Scotland including the associated benefits and costs for national adoption.
Following approval, the innovation will proceed to full-scale national adoption and eventual handover to ‘business as usual’ clinical services.
Further information
Center for Sustainable Delivery brochure [PDF]
