Innovation Exchange

Opportunities have never been better for social enterprises to really make a difference in primary and social care for people who find it difficult to access services. The DOH has just published the first stage of the Darzi review of the NHS. They are particularly  interested in new models of primary care to address health inequalities. At the same time  a big piece of work is being done on World Class Commissioning to move PCTs to be more sophisticated in their commissioning and procurement.

The Health and Care  Forum at the Social Enterprise Coalition has sent an innovative model to ministers for them to consider,  setting out the ways that social enterprise could make a real difference for people. . . The next meeting of the Forum on the 16 November will be focused on innovation and consortia of social enterprises who can together put for ward
proposals for disadvantaged groups.

So lets use the Innovation Exchange to generate those ideas which can then be put into practical reality through the next round of procurement in the health service.

There is a particular drive to make sure that proposals are future proofed and not just more of the same. Technology has a big part to play here - for example using Skype to to do on line consultations - using texts to remind people to take medication or to attend appointments. This is particularly important for older people with complex health problems, or
youngsters who sit outside the mainstream.