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The Innovation Exchange
The AHSN Network
The Innovation Exchange is an AHSN-coordinated approach to identify, select and support the adoption of innovations which have the potential to transform the lives of patients and support growth of the businesses we work with.
Each of the 15 regional AHSNs is delivering its own programme of Innovation Exchange activity.
The AHSN Network has been commissioned by the Office of Life Sciences (OLS) to deliver the Innovation Exchange.
The Innovation Exchange has four defined phases:
We support our local NHS partners – clinical and managerial – to understand the needs they have that could respond to innovation, then we communicate these needs to industry in a way that encourages the most effective response. We also support our local NHS partners to identify proven solutions to existing challenges.
Innovator support is provided by every AHSN. To help innovators progress from idea to uptake, the Innovation Pathway sets out the range of services that AHSNs offer to support industry in their journey. Not all the services are provided by every AHSN, but innovators will be directed to the best place for the assistance they need.
Innovations that need real world validations are tested and evaluated in local systems. This enables the AHSNs and the innovators to understand evidence and information needed to accelerate the adoption of innovation in a variety of settings. The AHSNs are developing a consistent approach to real world validation – but some local variation is inevitable as the NHS has multiple delivery approaches.
The AHSN Network supports adoption of innovations identified by the Accelerated Access Collaborative and those that the AHSNs identify for national spread. It also identifies and supports the adoption of innovations on a regional and cross-regional basis.
Funded by the government’s Office for Life Sciences, the Innovative Exchange builds on AHSNs’ unique expertise and cross-sector connections, enabling us to identify common challenges and quickly bring people and organisations together to develop, test and spread proven innovation. The OLS commission is also about delivering AHSN services in a more coordinated and connected way to increase capacity and capability.
Visit the AHSN Network Innovation Exchange website