Why contemporary Clinical Leaders should have Innovation at Heart

The NHS is facing significant challenges due to the ageing population, and the higher cost of chronic illness. Population health challenges such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer are the major causes of mortality in the UK. What they all have in common is that they can be prevented or reversed by addressing risk factors such as obesity, smoking, poor nutrition, lack of exercise. At the same time, the NHS is on route to become one of the most digitally advanced healthcare systems in the world, through the roll-out of electronic health records, virtual care and telemonitoring. There is suddenly a huge opportunity to learn, from organising and mobilising data, about our populations, what works well in the care, what does not work well and drive healthcare solutions forward which will maximise societal value. At individual patient level, understanding what matters most in their care, their experience outcomes from care and linking to long-term clinical outcomes will improve quality of care provision. Bringing those two together, prevention and digitisation, can enable us, as clinical leaders, pave the way to personalised care. The systematic collection of real world and population data which can be interpreted and actioned in clinical practice, can better inform us, as clinical leaders, about population health and clinical performance, leading to more appropriate allocation of healthcare budgets. 

The key to the NHS sustainability and growth is the development of clinical leaders who have innovation at the heart of everything they do and who are encouraged to use their innovation and leadership skills to have an impact at provider and at system level.  Front-line doctors, nurses and allied healthcare professional are leaders and subject matter experts and their presence in positions of influence should increase, who can then drive the local and national innovation and research portfolios. Today’s clinical leaders need to collaborate more with each other, talk more with academics who engage in organisational research and partner more with commercial organisations who produce innovative products and services that make real impact in healthcare. Innovation and the research that backs it up can influence healthcare decision-making and health policy and can solve real organisational issues in healthcare such as hospital flow, elective list efficiency, emergency care demand and care personalisation. Partnerships between segments of the healthcare sector, community, voluntary, private and public, as well as between healthcare and non-healthcare sectors, can help optimise the sharing of knowledge and skills for the purpose of spreading and embedding innovation within healthcare systems.

Dr Penny Kechagioglou Consultant Oncologist and CCIO