Formal NHS Scotland partner InnoScot Health is launching a fresh innovation push with the aim of inspiring nurses, midwives, and allied health professionals (AHPs) to come forward with their innovative ideas

Making up a third of the country’s health and social care workforce, InnoScot Health believes these uniquely insightful, diverse staff groups can be powerful drivers of change.

The organisation has great experience of working successfully with nurses, midwives, and AHPs to transform ideas into successful products which make an impact in healthcare settings across the country and internationally – and it insists that with the right support, there is much more to come.

InnoScot Health’s new innovation drive is designed to not only recognise and celebrate nurses, midwives, and AHPs’ unrelenting contribution to improvement, but also encourage them to become innovators by submitting ideas, simple or complex.

The organisation has been working in partnership with NHS Scotland for 22 years. By harnessing the talent, entrepreneurism, and commitment of almost 190,000 staff working across the NHS in this country, it supports improvements in patient care and stimulates economic wealth.

Head of Innovation at InnoScot Health, Robert Rea said: “These staff groups are quite simply the backbone of the healthcare system with patients’ needs at the heart of everything they do.

“As deeply skilled members of the workforce, they are also well placed to use their knowledge to make a real impact on the transformation of the health service.

“We believe that anyone can be a healthcare innovator by improving patient care, enhancing working practices, and generating a financial return which benefits all.

“We have the knowledge and expertise to help nurses, midwives, and AHPs take their ideas to the next level, offering support which ensures they can balance professional and personal demands.”

Last year, InnoScot Health partnered with NHS Grampian on an innovation competition which sought to draw out new ideas from the local workforce for improving patient care across the region.

The overall winner was Rachel Allanach, a Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) from Aberdeen Royal Infirmary who impressed with an innovative seating solution to assist acute and community therapists working with patients. The design continues to be refined with the help of engineering students at Heriot-Watt University, as part of InnoScot Health’s continued support of collaborative innovation.

InnoScot Health’s West of Scotland Innovation Manager Frances Ramsay brings decades of nursing experience to her role and is part of a national team encouraging innovators to submit ideas.

Frances said: “With a strong record of supporting nurses, midwives and AHPs over the last two decades, we are confident this new call to the community will inspire ideas across every Scottish health board.

“Nurses, midwives, and AHPs see first-hand the challenges of delivering high-quality patient care. Importantly, this also provides unique understanding around how things can be done better – and by leveraging those insights, they can become agents of change.”

The Patient Transfer Scale (PTS) was developed alongside InnoScot Health which worked closely with Gillian Taylor, an Emergency Department Nurse at NHS Lanarkshire, to turn her idea into a reality.

PTS – which won the Queens Award for Enterprise in Innovation – was designed to address the needs of patients admitted to hospital who are either too sick to stand on scales or are immobile, with an accurate patient weight being critical for medication dosage.

The scale combines a standard patient transfer board with a class III approved weighing scale, enabling medication to be administered quickly and its use in hospital settings around the world including the US and Australia.

To submit an idea or proposal, complete a short online form. Those that meet InnoScot Health’s criteria for support will receive assistance to develop their innovation, including guidance to source funding for its development, regulatory support, project management, and extensive innovation expertise.