It is vital that we take the opportunity next week to celebrate the incredible work of healthcare science professionals and inspire future generations to innovate, says a formal NHS Scotland partner

Healthcare Science Week (10-16 March) brings together over 50 scientific specialisms and professional groups to promote and raise awareness of this diverse section of the NHS workforce.

NHS-led healthcare science plays a key role in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of disease, and improving the health of the Scottish population.

InnoScot Health Innovation Manager Fiona Schaefer said: “Healthcare Science Week is an opportunity to champion and showcase the amazingly multi-faceted work happening across NHS Scotland, often behind the scenes, to enhance patients’ lives while inspiring Scotland’s scientific workforce of the future.

“According to the Scottish Government, the work of these 7,000-strong staff impacts on 75% of the clinical decisions in the patient journey, contributing to over 80% of all diagnostics.

“It is vital therefore that successive generations are encouraged to take the baton forward in this vital area of healthcare improvement with its wide range of careers and opportunities which operates at the cutting edge of NHS innovation.

“NHS Scotland partner InnoScot Health is proud to be taking an active role in supporting the annual initiative’s aim to enhance the healthcare science community.”

In the run up to Healthcare Science Week, Fiona will be presenting an MS Teams-hosted webinar on the ‘Clinical Adoption of Innovation and Research’ on Friday 7 March.

This forms part of the NHS Education for Scotland/Scottish Government Healthcare Science Annual Conference 2025 which is concluding with an innovation-focused webinar session taking place from 10-11.30am.

Fiona will spotlight successful InnoScot Health collaborations and the organisation’s approach to taking NHS workforce-led innovations from initial idea through to use/adoption in clinical practice.

These have spanned from InnoScot Health’s earliest days in 2002 which saw its first NHS Scotland spinout Touch Bionics, underpinned by the expertise of bioengineer Dr David Gow, right through to modern day support for Aurum Biosciences, led by its CEO, medical physicist Dr David Brennan.

Fiona added: “Sharing examples of successful clinical adoption within Scotland’s health service is an important way of bringing innovation to life, sharing the vital role of medical physicists, clinical scientists and engineers throughout the product development process.

“I look forward to offering my experiences with a wide audience including those already working in the NHS, to those just starting out on their healthcare science and clinical scientist journeys.”

InnoScot Health is backing recommended initiatives to make a positive difference during Healthcare Science Week including:

• Hosting a stand in a public area or the foyer of your hospital
• Giving a presentation, in person or virtually, to a school, college, university, science society or club, or your own health board
• Become a STEM Ambassador for healthcare science or take advantage of STEM resources.

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) is urging interested parties undertaking activities to tag them in social media posts and promotional activities by using their dedicated handle @hcsnes as well as hashtags #HCSWeekScot2025 and #HCSWeek2025.

For further details, resources and materials for how to get involved, visit their Healthcare Science Week webpage.