Shortlist announced for the Bright Ideas in Health Awards

Innovators from across the North East and North Cumbria are to be celebrated at the region’s leading health innovation awards.

The Bright Ideas in Health Awards recognise the achievements of individuals and teams working within the NHS, industry and academia, who have risen to the challenge improving services provided to patients, either through a technical innovation or through better service delivery.

Hundreds of innovators from across the region entered this year vying for a chance to take home prizes across ten categories.

The finalists have now been revealed with entries from NHS Trusts, universities, charities and businesses all in the running.

Dr Nicola Hutchinson, Chief Executive Officer at the Academic Health Science Network for the North East and North Cumbria (AHSN NENC), which organises the awards, said: “In the North East and North Cumbria there are individuals and teams working across the health sector that embrace the idea of innovation. That constantly strive to find new methods, ideas or products that can help better the care provided to patients.

“The Bright Ideas in Health Awards were established almost two decades ago to recognise these people. I’m delighted that this year’s awards will be able to bring innovators together in one room to acknowledge some of the incredible work taking place throughout our great region. Congratulations to all the finalists and good luck.”

This year’s headline sponsor is the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Samantha Allen, Chief Executive, North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board said: "Innovation is key to continuing to provide the best health and care for our communities across the North East and North Cumbria. The Bright Ideas in Health Awards celebrate those who are applying their skills to change things for the better. We are thrilled to once again support the awards and we look forward to seeing the impact of the impressive shortlisted innovations in years to come.”

The teams behind the winning innovations will receive a cash prize and support from AHSN NENC innovation experts to progress their ideas. The winners will be announced at the Bright Ideas in Health Awards ceremony on Thursday, March 23 at the Hilton Hotel Newcastle Gateshead.

The finalists in the ten categories are:

Demonstrating an Impact upon Patient Safety and/or Quality Improvement

• See and Treat Skin Cancer Service  County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
• ‘Hot’ Debriefing: Encouraging rapid post-incident team debriefing following medical emergencies and in-hospital cardiac arrests Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
• 3D Printing in Trauma and Orthopaedics  South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Innovation and Improvement in Reducing Healthcare Inequalities

• Community Hearing Screening for Adults with Learning Disabilities  South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust
• Autism Expert by Experience  South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust
• Reducing the Physical Health Gap for People with SMI Through Digital Innovation Health Call

Contribution to Sustainable Healthcare

• Northumbria Healthcare Manufacturing Hub  Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
• NHS Ocean  Healthcare Ocean and County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
• Continuous Remote Monitoring using Wearable Technologies  North Cumbria ICP

Development of an Innovative Device or Technology

• Halo Gravity Traction Device  The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Saving More Lives, Giving Transplant Organs Air to Breathe  ScubaTx Limited
• Point-of-Care Blood Test for the Pre-hospital Identification of Stroke Patients Suitable for Emergency Thrombectomy Treatment  Newcastle University and Pockit Diagnostics

Outstanding Industry Collaboration

• Saving More Lives, Giving Transplant Organs Air to Breathe  ScubaTx Limited
• Development of a New Hazardous Patient Transport Device  The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Innovations in Gastroenterology and Endoscopy  County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

Digital Innovation in Health and Social Care

• Local Health Index  Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
• RAIDR Waiting Well Dashboard  NECS: A Care System Support Organisation and The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Sunderland Clinical Support Information (CSI)  Sunderland GP Alliance

Innovation in Clinical Education

• Human Factors and Civility Education to Engender Safety Culture Change  South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Enhancing Care for Older People  North ICP (Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland)
• MDT Fetal Wellbeing Education Programme  Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Cross-organisation Working to Deliver Research

• NCBD Stoma Programme: A medley of methodologies across organisations to deliver high impact commercial research  The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Food Insecurity in Adults with Severe Mental Illness  Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust
• Increasing research exposure to primary care practices and patient populations in Northeast England  The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Innovation Champion Award

• Charlotte Mutton, Specialist Lead Bereavement Midwife, South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust
• Professor Ahmet Fuat, GP, Carmel Medical Practice, Darlington
• Caroline Tweedie, Specialist Breast Care Nurse, Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust

Innovation Champion Team Award

• Northumbria Healthcare Manufacturing Hub Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
• No-One Left Behind: Meeting the changing needs of palliative patients in the community throughout the pandemic and beyond St Oswald’s Hospice
• From Bench to Bedside: Collaboration between the NIHR Newcastle MIC and the North East Innovation Lab, part of Newcastle Hospitals  NIHR Newcastle In Vitro Diagnostics Co-operative (Newcastle MIC), The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Alongside the North East and North Cumbria ICS, the Bright Ideas in Health Awards sponsors include: County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust; Centre for Process Innovation (CPI); Health Education England North East (HEENE); North East Futures University Technical College; South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust; Sintons LLP; The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; NIHR CRN NENC; Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust; SME Centre for Excellence; Teesside University; NIHR ARC North East and North Cumbria; Sunderland University; NECS; Invest Newcastle; and Northumbria University.

To find out more about the Bright Ideas in Health Awards and this year’s finalists, visit: https://brightideasinhealth.org.uk/finalists-2022/