Guest Blog – Mark Taylor, NHS Innovation Manager

26th September 2024

We’re delighted to share this blog from Mark Taylor, Head Of Innovation at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, who discusses innovation from the NHS perspective, and what changes he’s seen since being appointed in his role a few years ago.

 

It’s been just over three years since I became the Head of Innovation at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust (STSFT) and it is a great opportunity to look back on what we have achieved over those last 3 years. Within that time, we have managed to support some great projects, changes and initiatives in the Trust whilst getting to work with other partners regionally.

One of the key areas of growth in STSFT is the level of staff engagement with Innovation. We have not only seen an increase in staff approaches, projects and unmet needs which originated from the frontline. We have also seen some fantastic comms campaigns such as the ‘Spotlight on Innovation,’ a weekly area in the Trust wide bulletins, and an Innovation Category at our local STSFT Staff Recognition Awards, which in 2024 was sponsored by Health Innovation North East North Cumbria (HI NENC) with a record number of entries to this category.

There is a great culture of innovation within the Trust. It can be seen from training modules around Innovation and Intellectual Property, the turnout at the Innovation Showcase event, and the demand for our first STSFT Innovation Grant competition (where we funded 50% of projects which applied). The high volume of successful applications showcases the innovation knowledge of those applying for the funding. It also highlights that there are great projects within the Trust which require the right opportunity to succeed and make a positive impact on patient outcomes, experience, or staff experience.

I would also like to highlight some of the projects which we have worked with through the Innovation Pathway which have really made a difference. The first is the Head and Neck Cancer Cookbook which we worked with the Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) team to create. From concept through to completion in 2023 it presents the experiences of three of our SALT patients as well as some recipes they have used. It has had great feedback, hearing from others with lived experience about their treatment, recovery, and how they have adapted their relationship with food has been incredibly beneficial to patients.

There have been multiple innovation projects which have led to commercial outputs. These range from the Shoulder Bench which originated with two of our A&E Consultants, and the Rise and Shine Game which was codeveloped by our TOPIC Team and patient ambassador and local artist Bob Olley, as well as working with companies to codevelop offerings such as the ExR Education work with one of our renal consultants to develop virtual reality training around procedures which are now on the market.  This goes to show that the ideas from various teams and individuals across the trust do have a chance of being commercialised when there is a demand. Projects are also often shared as best practice, being adopted in the Trust or wider and making a real impact on the system.

Innovation within healthcare and STSFT is also not just solely focusing on the creation and generation of new ideas and projects, we are also very keen to promote and highlight the adoption of cutting-edge innovations which help patient outcomes/experiences as well as staff experiences. This can range from being the first Trust to adopt a bit of equipment, supporting with the Med Tech Funding Mandates through HI NENC, and working on ‘real world evaluations’ with the teams in STSFT to get the evidence required to build a bigger business case, through to knowledge sharing. It is fantastic to be able to see some of the new ideas making a real impact on our patients in the region.

One of the most rewarding parts for me has been getting to see the journey and working alongside innovators to see how their ideas can impact patients.

It has also been great to work with some of the students from universities across the region. Sometimes you get to see these projects make regional/national news and it shows that what starts with an idea can grow into something which people are interested in nationally and is making a difference.

 

For further information, you can reach out to Mark via LinkedIn here: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-taylor-b3744723a/

 

South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust are a member organisation of HI NENC. Our Member Organisations are key to everything we do, giving us the expertise to know what innovations are right for patients, the skills to evaluate them and access to the care systems needed for adoption.