October 2023 Newsletter

Reducing Drug Deaths Innovation SBRI Challenge Phase 1 Projects Awarded

NHS Fife, part of the HISES Innovation Hub has been chosen to manage and coordinate a new £6 million UK-wide project funded by Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office and UK Government’s Office for Life Sciences, aimed to reduce fatal overdoses and drug-related harms through accelerating the development of innovative technologies. Eleven projects have been awarded up to £100,000 each to launch 4-month feasibility studies to develop prototypes, with one additional project securing up to £500,000 for a year-long demonstration study to collect real-world evidence with residents of homeless accommodation. The projects began in September 2023.

Innovating Mental Health Services in Scotland Phase 2 SBRI Commences

HISES are pleased to announce that Phase 2 of the National Mental Health SBRI started on 2nd October 2023 and will run for 12 months. The SBRI has two main challenge areas in supporting people not currently in treatment and delivering person-centred support to people who are receiving treatment. HISES have the role of the lead Innovation Hub which will see 3 companies partnering with different CSO Innovation Hubs throughout Scotland.

NHS Lothian are working with Wysa, a leading mental health app designed by clinicians. Wysa are working to provide innovative solutions that deliver sustainable, accessible, and equitable mental health services for our young people across South East Scotland. A feasibility study was conducted in early 2023 and Wysa are now looking forward to Phase 2 where they will work with health services to design and scale up the solution in a way that is tailored to health board’s local pathways and priorities.

Multi-morbidity Phase 2 SBRI Commences

We are excited to announce that Phase 2 of the Improving Multimorbidity Acute Care Using Data Analytics SBRI commenced at the beginning of October, with the company Red Star working in partnership with HISES. This challenge focuses on the presence of comorbidities in patients, which can significantly impact treatment options. Establishing a comprehensive understanding of a patient’s medical history can be complex and time-consuming, and overwhelmed emergency departments are under pressure to improve performance. Red Star are hoping to solve this problem by aggregating data from multiple sources and transforming it into a real-time, user-friendly summary of a patient’s comorbidities. In addition to identifying comorbidities, Red Star plan to create a user-friendly dashboard to summarise investigations, medications, and the frequency, duration, and severity of admissions related to each comorbidity.

NHS Lothian Long COVID Project Shortlisted for Innovation Award at 2023 Scottish Health Awards

The 2023 finalists for the Scottish Health Awards have been announced. We are pleased to announce that NHS Lothian, Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland (CHSS) and Pogo Digital Healthcare have been shortlisted for the Innovation Award for their partnership over the last several years to create an integrated care pathway to support people living with Long COVID. Tailored Talks – the app being used within the service – is the first of its kind to connect the public, private and third sectors in an integrated care pathway. Through this innovative collaboration, patients can refer back to the app at any time, track their symptoms, access the CHSS Advice Line for further support and request new information to guide their recovery. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on the 2nd of November 2023.

BHF Healthcare Innovation Fund Open

British Heart Foundation (BHF) are seeking to test and evaluate innovative approaches to the delivery of improved services for patients with cardiovascular disease. BHF are seeking applications on ideas that have been:

• scoped by an appropriate group of stakeholders and are ready to be tested and evaluated in practice, or
• tested locally by an appropriate group of stakeholders and are ready for early stage of scaling.

The BHF Innovation Fund is now live with applications closing at midday on Wednesday 8th November 2023. Applications must be submitted with the support of their Regional Innovation Hub.

NIHR & OLS Cancer Mission: Early Cancer Diagnosis Clinical Validation and Evaluation Call

The NIHR i4i Programme, in collaboration with the Office for Life Sciences (OLS), is inviting applications to the Cancer Mission: Early Cancer Diagnosis Clinical Validation and Evaluation Call. The funding competition of up to £12 million intends to provide funding for the clinical validation (assessing that the approach does what it is intended to do, accurately and reproducibly in real people in a clinical setting) and evaluation (assessing whether the approach informs clinical practice in the intended way and/or has clinical impact on patient outcomes) of innovations with the potential to increase the early detection and diagnosis of cancer. Applications open on 24th October 2023 and close on 12th December 2023.

NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme – Applications now open!

Are you a problem solver, creative thinker, or innovator working in NHS Scotland? Do you have an idea you wish to develop and scale for patient benefit? The NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme (CEP) may be for you! The CEP is a one-year entrepreneurial workforce development programme which is open to all NHS staff.  Deadline for applications is 29th October 2023, with cohort 8 starting in March 2024

Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary to host the first total-body PET scanner in Scotland

Scotland is set to receive its first total-body scanner in a boost to clinical research that aims to improve the detection, diagnosis and treatment of complex, multi-organ diseases. The Total-Body Positron Emission Tomography (PET) facility, due to be operational in 2024, will capture images of patients’ entire bodies quicker, in more detail and use less radiation than existing scanners. The platform, a partnership between Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC), the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Innovate UK, aims to advance healthcare research and clinical trials, and unlock new treatments for complex diseases like cancer as well as cardiovascular and neurological diseases. Based at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh, it will be jointly managed by the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Schools sensor network on track to boost pupils’ data skills

Europe’s biggest Internet of Things (IoT) network is on target to provide every school in the south-east of Scotland with advanced environmental sensors. The network is already giving thousands of students from more than 40 schools in Edinburgh, Fife, the Lothians, and Borders access to the latest indoor smart technology, capable of measuring CO2, humidity, light, air pressure and temperature levels. The IoT Schools Network is one of more than 3,000 research ventures involved in the University’s Data Driven Innovation (DDI) programme, now celebrating its fifth year.

Explore: HealthTech Webinar Series

The Explore: HealthTech webinar series offers an opportunity for companies across sectors to access the latest research and expertise at the University of Edinburgh in collaboration with Heriot-Watt University, CPI, and the Medical Device Manufacturing Centre.

• 17 October 1.30-2.30pm – Medical Devices
• 25 October 1.30-2.30pm – Digital Health and Data
• 1 November 1.30-2.30pm – Diagnostics
• 8 November 1.30-2.30pm – Design and Manufacture

Chief Scientist Office & Techscaler Online Event

On 22nd September 2023, CSO and Techscaler launched their partnership with an in-person event. During the event, the partnership, and the support it offers to stakeholders were introduced. The partnership aims to fast-track the ideation and growth of innovative health solutions. The CSO will host an online event on 6th November 2023 from 2 – 3pm which will provide an opportunity to learn more about the Techscaler accelerator and community programmes and ask any questions.

Technologies for Brain Health Webinar

Brain health technologies span the breadth of the disease course, from diagnosis to therapeutic intervention and are diverse in their modality, from imaging to novel cognitive assessment models. Emerging technologies particularly benefit from collaboration and shared learning so please join this knowledge exchange webinar from 10am – 12pm on 23rd October 2023.

The agenda will include innovators and academics developing innovative brain health technologies which all aim to increase knowledge of the brain and improve care pathways for patients of neurological disease.

Healthy Ageing Innovation Cluster Meeting

The next in-person Healthy Ageing Innovation Cluster event of 2023 will take place at Heriot-Watt’s Edinburgh Campus, the National Robotarium on Wednesday, 18th October 2023 from 10am – 3pm. The DHI is funded to work with all academic partners in Scotland and this event will coincide with the Care and Robotics Mash Up, who will also join the event.

Innovative Devices Access Pathway (IDAP) Pilot Launched

Innovators and Manufacturers can now apply to the Innovation Devices Access Pathway (IDAP) pilot, which was launched across the UK on 19 September with the support of the Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG). The IDAP provides innovators and manufacturers with multi-partner support and targeted scientific advice. The ambition of this new pathway is to support the rapid development of innovative technologies that can be introduced into the NHS to address unmet clinical needs for patients and healthcare professionals at the earliest opportunity, without compromising on standards of safety, quality, and effectiveness. Applications for the pilot phase are open until 29th October 2023.

Webinar aims to coach new NHS innovators in successfully submitting their great ideas

InnoScot Health’s next webinar will encourage progressive healthcare professionals to consider how best to fully maximise the potential of their forward-thinking ideas.

The NHS Scotland partner of over 20 years will be coaching inspired innovators and would-be entrepreneurs in how to ensure their exciting projects are ready for evaluation.

The free to join virtual session taking place 12 – 12.45pm on Tuesday 24th October is a fantastic opportunity for attendees to learn more about the process of developing their idea and what InnoScot Health is looking for in a strong submission to drive forward healthcare innovation.