Greater Manchester welcomed the first HETT North event in March 2023. An event focused on healthcare digital transformation, HETT North highlighted the latest advancements and innovations within the digital healthcare and technology space.  

Colleagues from across the Greater Manchester digital healthcare ecosystem presented and attended a range of engaging and thought-provoking sessions, demonstrating the strong life science and digital sectors in Greater Manchester and the serious ambitions to connect and grow in this space. 

We provide an overview of key insights across the event: 

A key challenge is to get innovators, and the best innovations, to work with the right people. One session, ‘Supporting Innovators To Build For All, With All’, explored the role that AHSNs, the NHS Innovation Service and partners play in supporting innovations along the journey from initial idea to implementation and how they scale across the NHS.  

Chaired by Richard Deed, Associate Commercial Director at Health Innovation Manchester, speakers provided recommendations for innovators on how to access information and support by the NHS Innovation Service, part of the Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) and the AHSN network.  

Further information for innovators in the healthcare space can be found here.

Bradley Quinn, Associate Director of Innovation at Health Innovation Manchester, provided an overview of Secure Data Environments (SDE). He explained, by providing secure access to linked longitudinal patient data, how the SDEs can support research and development throughout the entire innovation lifecycle, to ultimately save and improve lives. 

There are a significant number of challenges in bringing data sets together, including differences in purpose, format and quality. Claire MacDonald, Head of Clinical Data Science Unit Delivery at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, highlighted the barriers and challenges we face when harmonising data sets together to use as one, and the learnings we can take from these.   

For more information on how Secure Data Environments are improving Greater Manchester’s health through data, read more here. 

In sessions hosted by Health Innovation Manchester and the National Innovation Collaborative for digital health, we heard about the impact to patients, carers and their families through the use of remote technology and digitally enabled care at home.  

Virtual wards support patients who would otherwise be in hospital to receive the acute care, monitoring and treatment they need in their own home. There is increasing evidence to suggest that the option for patients to stay in the comfort of their own home, whilst being closely monitored by hospital staff, can lead to faster recovery, improved mental wellbeing and greater independence. 

Greater Manchester has a diverse population with a range of complex needs, and there are stark inequalities that exist and continue to worsen in some areas. Whilst technology has a major role to play in addressing these challenges, it is crucial we understand and address digital inequalities when designing and deploying digital solutions, to ensure the best outcomes for all populations.  

For more information on the roll out and expansion of virtual wards in Greater Manchester, click here.

Digital health can help our workforce to thrive. Through training and education, we can integrate digital into our culture, and realise the benefits and efficiencies throughout everyone’s role. By utilising digital and AI to save time on the simple, time-consuming tasks, such as capturing documentation, healthcare professionals can have the time to focus on the patient and more complex cases – where they are needed most. 

 FutureNHS is a collaboration platform that empowers everyone working in health and social care to safely connect, share and learn across boundaries. You can access FutureNHS here. 

There are many barriers, but through trust and partnership we are working through these challenges. The NHS has a powerful and unique data set, and through transparency, accuracy and harmonisation, we will see significant benefits for patients, the NHS and the wider health and care system. 

Digital transformation and innovation come with risks. Timothy Ferris, Director of Transformation at NHS England, and Jenny Chong, Chair of the Medway Innovation Institute, reflected how demands on the healthcare system are growing more than what we can keep up with. They stressed the need to move aggressively, embrace risks yet be vigilant, to ultimately deliver healthcare differently. 

“If we are afraid to learn then we will never improve.” 

Jenny Chong, Chair of the Medway Innovation Institute