Innovation in health care driven by board
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SEVERAL health, academic and business leaders from around the North West have joined the board of an organisation which has its offices in Daresbury.
The Innovation Agency is the Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) for the region.
It is one of 15 in England tasked with accelerating the spread of innovations which can transform health care.
The appointment of the seven brings the number of partners on the board to more than 40 leaders from a range of academic, NHS, business and third sector organisations.
The board provides strategic leadership to the Innovation Agency, identifying the most urgent challenges and agreeing how best to drive innovation where it is most needed.
Appointments include Professor St John Crean who is executive dean at the University Of Central Lancashire, Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust clinical director of innovation Iain Hennessey, Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust medical director Susan Gilby, and Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust director of workforce Mike Gibney.
Other appointees are Wirral Community NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Karen Howell, St Helens And Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust chief executive Karen Howell, and TechUK head of health and social care Ben Moody.
Board members meet every two months at the Innovation Agency offices in Sci-Tech Daresbury and take part in an annual planning day to agree objectives for the coming year.
Members also sit on steering groups for digital health, patient safety, economic growth and transformation.
Chair Gideon Ben-Tovim said the group is a vital sounding board for the Innovation Agency – helping to establish its goals and the route to achieving them.
He said: “Our board members represent the organisations who work with us to spread innovation and improvements in health care and we rely on their knowledge and experience to steer what we do.
“I am very grateful to them for the role they play in ensuring that everything we do is helping to address the most pressing needs of our population.”