My “Smart Hospital” Proposal
Proposed 13 January 2017 to the Transport Systems Catapult, following my volunteering in Milton Keynes Hospital A&E.
The majority, if not all, of UK NHS hospitals are extremely stretched, underfunded, and outdated. Day-to-day processes are subject to a great many number of inefficiencies in a system that cannot afford the money or time to address them. I propose harnessing the capabilities of multiple Catapults to work with the NHS to identify the biggest problems, and encourage innovation in the next hospital to be built. The lessons learnt from upgrading this 'smart hospital' could hopefully be retrofitted in many existing hospitals, and improve plans for future hospitals and upgrades. This project aims to show Government that investing in innovation can do more for some industries, such as the NHS, than just hoping increased funding solves the problem.
Midjourney depiction of a future Smart Hospital
The project could follow these stages:
Proposal written, agreed amongst Catapults and submitted to Innovate UK.
Innovate UK agree to a budget, to be shared amongst participating Catapults – or consortia if competition.
<100k could fund feasibility study to identify what NHS problems exist and where Catapult expertise helps.
<£10m would become Phase 1 pilot, demonstrating what can be done & incentivize further projects.
>£10m could satisfy a major objective, agreed amongst project & NHS stakeholders.Catapult staff meet with NHS chiefs, staff and stakeholders to identify problems and inefficiencies.
Catapults develop innovative solutions in collaboration with other Catapults and SMEs. Budget can be used for hackathons, staff time, contracting SMEs or acquiring novel technology.
Solutions embedded and implemented in chosen hospital under construction.
Observation and review period to identify care and efficiency impact, and cost savings.
Successful solutions retrofitted in existing UK hospitals, if possible.
Successful Catapult ideas spun-out and SMEs supported in exporting to international markets.
This will provide the following benefits:
To Catapults:
Could generate millions or billions of pounds in industry growth and NHS savings.
Could show that government investment in innovation and reducing inefficiencies can do more for some industries, such as the NHS, than just throwing money at it.
Could create sustainable jobs and growth in healthcare industry, resulting from innovative solutions.
Successful solutions would be exportable to world-wide market.
Encourage SME involvement in large healthcare market.
Promotes UK as thought-leader in healthcare innovation.
Encourages a large multi-Catapult collaboration, where best practices and wide expertise can be shared.
To TSC:
CAV
Autonomous transport for patients and supplies around hospital; such as Tug by Aethon in USA.
BVLOS autonomous drones delivering samples, cells and transplants between departments, hospitals and labs; such as Ehang and Lung Biotechnology’s partnership in USA and China.
BVLOS autonomous drones delivering medicine to nearby and hard-to-reach patients; such as Zipline delivering vaccines in Rwanda, Cameroon and Uganda.
BVLOS emergency autonomous drones delivering defibrillator and first aid supplies to patients ahead of ambulance; such as prototypes built in Sweden and Netherlands.
Data
Analyse and optimise NHS patient transport (ambulance, patient transfer service).
Could contracts with taxi companies such as Uber lighten load for lower-risk patients? Kansas found ambulance use dropped 7% after Uber introduced.
Optimise or build new system to manage patient data, across all NHS stakeholders (hospitals, GPs etc.). Opportunities include blockchain and supply-chain-management style solutions.
Develop best practice for managing and sharing data within and between Catapults and collaborators.
Boosting cycling and alternative forms of transport
Develop campaigns to improve cycling uptake and safety, to boost alternative forms of transport and promote active lifestyle which can lower health risks and hospital admissions.
Optimising public access to and through important public service will provide learning and technologies that benefit other high traffic areas, such as airports and transport interchanges.
To the NHS and hospitals:
Incremental changes could save many lives.
Incremental changes could save millions or billions of pounds, easing the considerable strain and offering funds to other areas where innovation is less effective – e.g. social care. Eliminating working inefficiencies could reduce staff stress and increase productivity.
Patient care and experience would increase, improving morale and could shorten time to discharge.
Access to up-to-date medical information could be made available to more staff and authorities who need it, such as GPs, saving considerable time and money.
Future-proofing hospitals could improve patient care and capacity and sustain an operational environment for longer under growing population.
The following hospitals could be selected:
Royal Liverpool Hospital - to be opened in Summer 2018.
Papworth Hospital, Addenbrooke – to be opened in September 2018.
Great Ormond Street Hospital, London – Italian Hospital renovations & new clinical building start in 2018.
Specialist and Critical Care Centre, Cwmbran, Wales – to be opened in 2022.
Norwich Community Hospital – plans for overhaul still under debate.
New Northern Ireland Hospital, to be built on site of current Craigavon Area Hospital – plans still to be decided by Stormont (if Government gets back on track), but could be well received by new UK Government.
Potential funding sources include:
InnovateUK December sector competition: Open
Link here. Closes 28 February 2018.
UK businesses can apply for a share (£25k - £1m) of up to £19 million to deliver game changing or disruptive innovations with significant potential for impact on the UK economy.
This competition is open to the best business-led cutting-edge or disruptive ideas or concepts with a view to commercialisation. These can come from any technology (including arts, design, media or creative industries) and apply to any part of the economy. They can fit into, or be outside of, any one or more of Innovate UK’s 4 priority sectors for growth.
Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTPs) applications are welcome. There is a further £14 million of funding available for KTP applications.
Total eligible project costs must be within the range £25,000 to £1,000,000. Projects may last between 6 and 36 months.
