NHS Innovation Challenge Prizes – First Winners

 Posted by  General news
Jun 062011
 
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The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement has announced the first three winners of the innovation challenge prizes, which were launched in December 2010. The winners are:

  • Manchester Royal Infirmary won an award in the ‘Increasing independence for those with kidney failure’ challenge. Their innovation was to substantially increase the number of patients receiving home haemodialysis.
  • MRC Cancer Cell Unit, Cambridge won an award in the ‘Earlier Diagnosis of Cancer’ challenge. A Cytosponge is a simple pill/sponge placed on a string which patients swallow so that doctors can get a sample/swab from their Oesophagus to test for throat cancer. The Cytosponge costs just £25, compared to an endoscopy at £600. If all patients were tested with the Cytosponge could save the service £3.4m annually.
  • NHS Bristol won an award in the ‘Reducing Waste by Better Use of Prescribing Technology’ challenge. By innovatively using a software programme readily available in the NHS, the NHS Bristol team logs the prescribing behaviours of patients. The local GP surgeries can understand people’s nutritional drug taking patterns and can save £156,000 per annum across the NHS Bristol area.

Two further applicants were Highly Commended:

  • University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire for an Intervention Package to reduce pre-34-week deliveries
  • Red Bank Group Practice, Radcliffe, Manchester for the implementation of a personal list system such that between 85% and 90% of appointments requested are with their usual GP

The competition remains open until 14th August. The first seven challenges are:

  • Challenge 1: Better Management Of Pregnancy
  • Challenge 2: Medicines – Reducing Waste, Increasing Benefits
  • Challenge 3: A Reduction Of MSSA – (Methicillin-Sensitive Staphylococcus Aureus) and/or E.COLI Bacteraemias across a health economy by 30%
  • Challenge 4: Increasing Independence For Those With Kidney Failure
  • Challenge 5: Earlier Cancer Diagnosis
  • Challenge 6: To Increase The Number Of People Who Receive Emergency Care In The Right Place And Complete Their Care In The First Location
  • Challenge 7: Reducing Avoidable Attendances At GP Surgeries And Other Primary Care Settings By 20%, With No Reduction In Quality Of Service

Full details of the challenges and the winning entries is available on the website at http://www.challengeprizes.institute.nhs.uk/.