The Health Science Journal
Thursday 22nd November 2018
On 23 November, Wil Woan, Chief Executive will be attending an important roundtable hosted by the Health Service Journal to discuss Getting innovations into practice: how can the NHS speed up?
Wil will be joined by leaders in the world of medicine to discuss how innovation can be more efficiently introduced into mainstream use within the NHS. The current issue is that while many new technologies are given approval for use by all of the relevant bodies, accepting them into widespread use can take up to a decade or more.
Those making up the roundtable include:
- Professor Simon Ray, Joint clinical lead for cardiology Getting it Right First Time
- Baroness Judith Jolly: Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Health)
- Phil Lewis, NHS Supply Chain head of musculoskeletal and cardiovascular
- Dr Mick Ozcor, Cardiologist and deputy clinical director North Middlesex University Hospital Trust
- Professor Ben Bridgewater, Chief executive Health Innovation Manchester
- Dr John Rawlins, Consultant interventional cardiologist, University Hospital Southampton Foundation Trust.
This topic is something that affects both patients and clinicians by denying the benefits, efficiency and potential savings that these new technologies can provide if their use is significantly delayed. To help with the discussion, the roundtable will look at Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) an innovative technique used to treat aortic valve disease, that despite being around for more than a decade, is only being used on a small population of patients and only in certain areas within the UK.
Wil’s role in the discussion will be to provide a representation for the patient voice. Innovation and new technology can serve to help improve the patient journey and provide more treatment options to those diagnosed with heart valve disease.
“I am looking forward to being a part of this important discussion on a topic that is key to improving the patient pathway,” said Wil. “As a patient led charity, we value these opportunities to ensure that the patient is considered first and foremost withe regards to the treatment of heart valve disease.”