Agenda item

To receive a report from the Head of Democratic Services which presents information provided by the Leeds Academic Health Partnership on how innovation in the health and care sector is helping to achieve the Leeds Best City Ambition to become a healthier and more economically prosperous city for all its citizens.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report which presented information provided by the Leeds Academic Health Partnership on how innovation in the health and care sector helps to achieve the Leeds Best City Ambition to become a healthier and more economically prosperous city for all its citizens.

The following were in attendance:

·  Councillor Fiona Venner - Executive Member for Children’s Social Care and Health Partnerships

·  Councillor Salma Arif - Executive Member for Adults Social Care, Public Health and Active Lifestyles

·  Caroline Baria - Interim Director of Adults and Health

·  Victoria Eaton - Director of Public Health

·  Tony Cooke - Chief Officer Health Partnerships

·  Steve Baker - Head of Active Leeds

·  Professor Phil Wood - Chief Executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

·  Tim Ryley - ICB Accountable Officer (Leeds Place)

·  Sam Prince - Executive Director of Operations, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust

·  Dr Luan Linden-Phillips - Innovation Adoption Specialist, Leeds Academic Health Partnership (LAHP)

The Executive Member for Children’s Social Care and Health Partnerships gave a brief overview of some of the positive work that had been progressed collaboratively through the LAHP in terms of developing solutions to challenges or creating more efficient measures within the health and care system.  In terms of making the city more receptive to the needs of innovators, specific reference was also made to the establishment of the LTHT Innovation Pop Up.

The Chief Officer for Health Partnerships and the Innovation Adoption Specialist at the LAHP then gave a brief introduction to the report and highlighted the following key points:

Ø  The LAHP recognises that innovation, research and evidence are central to all three pillars of the Best City Ambition.

Ø  Previous projects have included the establishment of the Leeds Health and Care Academy to transform the learning and development for the 57,000 people who work in health and care. The Academy now trains over a thousand unique learners each year and has generated over 200 jobs as part of the targeted employment programme in estates like Lincoln Green and opened up wider access routes into health and care for residents of the most deprived areas in Leeds.

Ø  Leeds has a thriving and diverse research and innovation ecosystem. New early diagnostic technology has been developed, such as PinPoint which uses blood biomarkers and artificial intelligence (AI) to determine a patient’s risk of cancer and optimise urgent cancer referral pathways. Pinpoint received incubation support from the Leeds Centre for Personalised Medicine and Health, a previous project of the LAHP.

Ø  DigiBete was highlighted as another patient-led innovation which involves a multi-lingual video platform and app to help support children, young people and families self-manage their type I diabetes through age-appropriate shared videos and educational resources.

Ø  Funding from LAHP had been done under a fair share agreement to bring together a multitude of partners to look at opportunities to develop much needed innovations for patients and staff.

Ø  The LAHP is currently supporting around 10 significant multi-partner research and innovation bid opportunities, each with potential funding in the range of £1 million to £7 million.

Ø  Aligning the universities with city health and care strategies brings diverse perspectives around common goals to maximise opportunities in research and innovation. In the University of Leeds’ latest strategy, reducing health inequalities and the social impact of research is explicitly at its heart.

Ø  The LAHP maintains and connects into strong networks across Leeds and West Yorkshire to identify key innovations, utilise assets and maximise growth of technology to support the health and care system.

Ø  Solutions to information governance challenges for data-driven technologies were noted to be ongoing to address the current need for multiple individual data protection impact assessments.

Ø  In the arena of social care, innovation will be data driven, engaging with population health boards to ensure patient needs are identified and articulated.

In response to questions from Members and subsequent discussion, the following was outlined:

·  The key impact and progress of innovation in the system was noted as connecting data sources, creating infrastructure for the flow of information, efficient diagnosis of illness and management of co-morbidities.

·  The LAHP was open to bring innovators into discussions for projects the LAHP is working on and where those innovations are deemed beneficial to the system. The region has a healthy digital sector and expertise that can be tapped into.

·  Some issues were noted by Members with PATCHS, a technology developed to book a GP appointment recently implemented across West Yorkshire, due to a lack of public facing communication of its adoption.

·  Whilst the digitalisation of services had clear net benefits, it was noted that use and accessibility is not equal across the population, particularly those with disabilities or living in poverty, and non-digital options should be clearly communicated to the public.

·  Face to face appointments and home visits were noted to still be an essential service.

·  Through the work outlined in the Leeds Digital Strategy and programmes such as 100% Digital Leeds, people will be supported in and out of hospital, giving them more control over their own health and wellbeing whilst also focusing on inclusivity.

·  Research agendas will have a focus on inequality and include sound communication of new technology and how to make it accessible.

·  Whilst much innovation needs to be inclusive, it was noted that not all technology, such as diagnostics and analytics, is patient facing and instead supports work efficiency for institutions. The Integrated Digital Service was assisting in the adoption of digitalisation, and it is engaging with lead service providers to determine how it will be best introduced. The LAHP’s role is to support innovation and adoption, but it is the responsibility of those who deliver services how best to introduce innovation.

·  Leeds was increasingly securing its position as a leading city in health and care, with a strong emphasis on reducing inequality, which ties into the ongoing Marmot City work.

·  Leeds and West Yorkshire was noted to be well connected with health technology corridors connecting with Nordic countries and Israel to access cutting edge innovation and export developments from Leeds.

·  It was acknowledged that the focus on innovation in social care could and should be stronger, however, conversations and pathways were coming to fruition but lacked parity of funding to other health sectors. Progress is being made, for example in remote monitoring for patients, which was noted to be translating from health to social care settings.

·  Developing appropriate data connectivity infrastructure posed some concerns for Members, however,  it was highlighted that this programme of work is being managed by the Leeds Integrated Digital Service and engagement events across the network are in place to develop ideas and streamline the approach around the use of new technology.

·  The use of AI can raise ethical issues and the trust of patients will need to be built. Ethical approval is an integral part of research in the development of new technologies and adoption of new patient facing technology requires engagement with patients. It is of vital importance to gain and sustain people’s trust in how organisations safeguard and use their personal data. It was recognised that health and care staff are facing significant challenges and that the benefits of innovation will need to be demonstrated in practice to encourage adoption. The process for staff engagement and training for new innovative technology will be explored  with the Leeds Health and Care Academy

·  With changes to commissioning and government policy making, some systems have appeared fragmented, so pulling together digital processes and technology will allow greater efficiency in health and social care provision. Partnership working within Leeds was already well established and data widely shared with new innovation to support current integration models.

·  Adult social care is looking at how technology and innovation can be incorporated into transformation and service development. The various service providers were noted to be of different scales and adoption of technology was behind the health sector, however, adoption of technologies and integration across health and care was increasing.

RESOLVED – That the report, along with Members comments, be noted.