Head of Innovation, Robert Rea considers fresh possibilities around national initiative

Innovation is often thought of as the practice of replacing existing approaches with the adoption of progressive new technologies — trailblazing ideas that have the potential to transform healthcare.

At InnoScot Health, we certainly believe that while such additions can be a meaningful part of the bigger innovation picture, other avenues of transformation and evolutionary improvement can be just as effective as we aim to fundamentally increase capacity across the NHS.

Breakthroughs can come in many shapes and sizes — big or small, simple or complex — and they do not always require significant capital to make a measurable difference.

Ensuring that staff continue to be inspired and educated in the aim to identify smarter, more efficient ways of working can be just as valuable when achieved in tandem with carefully targeted larger investments for a more cost-effective health service.

One such larger investment recently saw NHS Golden Jubilee open its new cutting-edge Surgical Centre in Clydebank, considered “an integral part of the Scottish Government’s National Treatment Centre (NTC) Programme” — a network of healthcare facilities across the country that offer diagnostic and planned care.

These NTCs are primarily designed to increase capacity for inpatient care, diagnostic services, day surgery, and short-stay theatre procedures.

With a firm focus on delivering high quality planned care to meet Scotland’s growing healthcare needs, the programme also undoubtedly represents a significant step change in delivering on national ambitions to reduce waiting times.

While the programme was originally planned for full completion by 2035, increasing demand meant that it has been prioritised and accelerated.

Some would argue that such fast-tracking might be construed as short-term thinking in response to pressure for action, but much longer-term benefits have been built into its strategy to improve facilities and patient outcomes across the country.

Indeed, by their very nature, these new facilities can also be the foundations of future innovation, encouraging collaboration and heightened flexibility across NHS Health Boards, while delivering more with less thanks to purpose-built, streamlined infrastructure.

By 2026, the 10 NTCs — including orthopaedics centres in both Fife and Ayrshire and Arran, to name just a couple — are cumulatively expected to deliver at least 40,000 additional elective surgeries and procedures per year across Scotland. After that, the target is 50,000 per year.

As a major part of the NTC programme, NHS Golden Jubilee has just opened two orthopaedic theatres within its new Surgical Centre, allowing for some 4,800 planned procedures to be completed by March 2025, including much-needed hip and knee replacements.

If projections for the Surgical Centre to reach full theatre capacity by 2025/26 financial year are met, then a total of nearly 6,200 orthopaedic procedures will be carried out.

A new dedicated endoscopy unit has also been created, with the accelerated NTC programme ambitions helping to increase capacity from three to five procedure rooms.

It is expected that over 9,100 endoscopy procedures — which play a vital role in diagnosing cancers and other diseases – will be carried out this year at the Surgical Centre.

Furthermore, the dedicated new unit will not only support increased patient treatment, but will also boost training opportunities for NHS Scotland staff, representing even greater longer-term value.

In fact, The NHS Scotland Academy will be supporting the NTC Programme with a commitment to accelerated workforce development.

Likewise, the NTCs will offer training for registered nurses to support the delivery of safe patient care through a six-month ‘Foundations of Perioperative Practice’ course, providing them with tools, strategies, and awareness of human factors.

That aligns with our new innovation drive which aims to inspire nurses, midwives, and allied health professionals to come forward and submit new ideas that can improve healthcare.

It is fair to say that the NTCs represent a good investment, reaping benefits for many years to come if that higher delivery of procedures and training is realised.

Gordon James, Chief Executive of NHS Golden Jubilee said the Surgical Centre had resulted from “extensive collaboration with patients, staff, and third-sector partners”.

For me, these points are at the very heart of the matter — investing for both now and embedding skills for the future while ensuring that those delivering care and receiving it within forward-thinking new facilities are consulted on patient-centred needs and how best to maximise efficiencies.

It is this type of collaboration — uniting knowledge, insight, and experience — that InnoScot Health believes is vital to unlocking truly effective innovation and shaping a sustainable health and care system for the future.

Further exemplars are evident, including a recent partnership with the University of Glasgow on a cutting-edge collaboration which could transform recovery outcomes for knee replacement patients.

The ‘Robust-Knee’ study will “focus on a novel application of an exercise therapy and advanced movement monitoring to improve patient outcomes” with an aim of addressing the needs of patients who face significant pain, reduced mobility, and muscle weakness while waiting for surgery.

This includes developing and validating a radar-based system to track patient movements in real time, eliminating the need for cameras or wearable devices, yet protecting privacy.

Innovation is happening all the time across Scotland, with new facilities reducing elective challenges and collaborations providing a platform for more efficient thinking.

Taken altogether, it is ample evidence that when all the wheels and cogs are turning in unison, then a country known for its groundbreaking mindset can continue to push for better at a challenging time.