Twenty-one innovative projects are selected to improve the quality of health care

The Health Foundation has selected 21 projects to be part of the second round of its £1.5m innovation programme, Innovating for Improvement.

Innovating for Improvement aims to improve health care delivery and/or the way people manage their own health care by testing and developing innovative ideas and approaches and putting them into practice.

The selected projects will be led by clinical teams and will develop their innovative ideas and approaches, put them into practice and gather evidence about how their innovation improves quality.

The programme will run for 15 months, including a recommended set up phase starting in October 2015. Each team will receive up to £75,000 of funding to support the implementation and measurement of their project.

The innovative ideas will be tested in health care settings around the around the UK including primary and community care, secondary care, and mental health services.

The selection of these projects is currently subject to contracts being finalised with the lead organisation of each project.

Improving pressure damage detection in the community using continuous pressure monitoring of patients

Lead organisation: Peninsula Community Health

Focusing on older people living in the community, this project will use innovative continuous pressure monitoring technology to identify pressure hot spots much earlier and so prevent actual damage occurring. Through this, it will be possible to determine whether pressure ulcer risk can be self-managed by the patient.

Optimising patient outcomes and reducing cost through enhanced management of invasive fungal infection

Lead organisation: Barts Health NHS Trust

Invasive fungal infection (IFI) is challenging to diagnose, and antifungal drugs are costly and have significant side-effects. This project will improve the management of IFI and decrease costs through the use of a unique care bundle approach supported by real-time diagnostics and an online audit tool.

Maternal risk assessment: management by and with pregnant women, where they want and need it

Lead organisation: NHS Borders

‘SAFER’ is a risk assessment tool that is used to assess antenatal risks and develop comprehensive clinical management plans. This project will involve testing this methodology and engaging pregnant women in its development and implementation, with the aim of creating a community-based model that will improve maternal outcomes.

Utilising Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) within a mental health crisis team and on an acute mental health ward

Lead organisation: Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing has a strong evidence base as a trauma-focused psychological treatment. This project will use this therapy in a new setting – those on acute mental health wards or with the crisis team – to alleviate trauma symptoms in patients with a high level of clinical risk.

Improving cancer patient experience with a Rapid Access Multidisciplinary Palliative Assessment and Radiotherapy Treatment Clinic

Lead organisation: University Hospital Southampton

This project aims to improve the experience and care of cancer patients by combining assessment by palliative care and clinical oncology specialists with the planning and delivery of radiotherapy, in a single hospital visit – through the development of a Rapid Access Multidisciplinary Palliative Assessment and Radiotherapy Treatment Clinic.

Introducing telepsychiatry into routine practice in an emergency department psychiatric service

Lead organisation: Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

Telepsychiatry uses video-conferencing to deliver mental health services from a distance. This project aims to improve patient satisfaction and reduce costs by trialling telepsychiatry in three ways: to provide senior medical opinion on complex cases; to complete assessments at distance; and to provide follow-up home appointments using patients’ own technology.

Development of a multidisciplinary cow’s milk allergy management clinic in a community setting

Lead organisation: South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust (SEHSCT)

This project will develop multidisciplinary outreach clinics to improve care for infants with cow’s milk allergy (CMA). The allergy team (doctor, nurse and dietitian) will support those referred from primary care by providing group sessions on CMA, with dietary advice for babies and breast-feeding mothers, and individual allergy assessments.

Using electronic data to identify bottlenecks in secondary care at weekends and improve patient flow

Lead organisation: Royal Derby Hospital

By embedding a clinical epidemiological/health economics team within a busy acute hospital, this project will use routinely collected electronic prescribing data to identify and prioritise potential bottlenecks in secondary care at weekends. Interventions can then be introduced to remove bottlenecks for discharge and help improve patient flow.

The dementia ‘Golden Ticket’ – an emerging new model of care

Lead organisation: Buxted Medical Centre

Aimed at addressing fragmentation and gaps in the care pathway for people with dementia, the ‘Golden Ticket’ is an innovative composite model of intervention delivered in primary care and the community. It endeavours to improve quality of life for the whole dementia journey, supporting the patient and carer.

Using technology and an evidence-based, outcome-led approach to reduce health inequalities for people with learning disabilities

Lead organisation: Hft

This project will use ‘Lincus’, a picture and simple word-based application for recording health and wellbeing information, and the Health Equalities Framework to enable people with learning disabilities to take control of their health care, improve communication between themselves, practitioners and support staff to improve care quality and reduce health inequalities.

Management of advanced chronic liver disease in a hospice setting – a shared care strategy

Lead organisation: St Luke's Hospice

To improve care for people with advanced chronic liver disease, this project will implement a shared care pathway between the acute hospital and hospice setting. It aims to ensure early and timely access to support services and interventions, and increase access to hospice-based clinical and therapeutic services.

An evaluation of an innovative telephone app (BlueIce) for young people (aged 12-17) who self-harm

Lead organisation: Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

This project will assess the accessibility, safety, use and effect of Bluelce – a self-management app – with young people who regularly self-harm. The app, co-produced by young people who have self-harmed and designed as an adjunct to therapy, includes a mood monitoring diary, mood-lifting activities, relaxation activities, and distress tolerance techniques.

Peri-Operative Medicine Service for High-risk surgery: Implementation Pilot (POM-SHIP)

Lead organisation: University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

To reduce post-operative complications and improve quality of life for high-risk surgical patients, this project involves the development and implementation of a Peri-Operative Medicine team service. The intervention will identify high-risk patients early, improve communication within the multi-disciplinary team, and prioritise patients through dedicated follow-up throughout their hospital stay.

Enhanced atrial fibrillation (AF) medicines use reviews using AliveCor monitors to improve the identification and treatment of patients with AF

Lead organisation: Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust

This project, aimed at improving the detection and treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF), involves community pharmacists undertaking enhanced medicines use reviews for patients with risk factors for developing AF. These consultations will include using an AliveCor monitor, an innovative ECG device which measures patients’ heart rate and rhythm. 

Guided Online Self-Help for Depression and Cancer in Adolescents (GOSH CAN)

Lead organisation: Great Ormond Street Hospital

Adolescents with cancer are at increased risk of depression, which often goes undiagnosed. This project will develop a novel guided online self-help treatment package for these patients, with the aim of transforming access to, and delivery of, mental health care whilst improving depression and quality of life.

Safer care patient-centred checklist: a co-designed intervention to promote safe, high quality practice and improved outcomes

Lead organisation: University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

This novel approach to patient involvement involves the co-design and delivery of a patient-administered checklist (PAC) which invites patients to assess their care, highlight any issues and engage with clinicians to resolve concerns. It will engage and empower patients as partners in the delivery of better, safer care. 

Home monitoring to support patients during chemotherapy

Lead organisation: The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

This project involves the piloting of an innovative remote monitoring service for cancer patients who are measuring their white blood cells, haemoglobin, body temperature and self-reported symptoms in their own home, with the aim of improving patients’ quality of life during chemotherapy and reducing the number of hospital visits.

Using the Ophelia (Optimising Health Literacy and Access) approach to generate and drive healthcare improvements – a UK demonstration programme

Lead organisation: Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

The Ophelia (Optimising Health Literacy and Access) approach uses a health literacy questionnaire to identify strengths and weaknesses across populations in parts of the health care system that are not meeting needs, and uses this to enable clinicians and community members to co-produce and co-deliver innovative, locally-relevant service redesign and improvements.

Quality improvement and person-centredness: design and testing of the Always Event concept in healthcare settings

Lead organisation: NHS Lanarkshire

‘Always events’ (AEs) are actions and behaviours that create a satisfactory patient experience. This project involves introducing acute and primary care teams to the AE and person-centredness concepts, facilitating AE testing with priority patient groups, and assessing whether the AE approach can drive measureable improvements in patient experience.

Optimisation of adrenal incidentaloma patient management pathway

Lead organisation: University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust

With the aim of managing patients with adrenal incidentalomas (AIs) more effectively, this project will involve three components: producing guidelines for managing AIs, using the best available evidence; using an electronic AI management system that links clinical, biochemical and radiological data; and ensuring patient involvement in the new model of care.

Home monitoring of high blood pressure in pregnancy: an innovative app to monitor women’s health during pregnancy

Lead organisation: St George’s University Hospitals NHS Trust

By allowing pregnant women to monitor their health at home, this project is aiming to reduce the number of hospital visits that women with high blood pressure during pregnancy need. An innovative app will be developed that allows self-monitoring and provides alerts when hospital assessment is needed.