You are here: Home » News, views and events » Archive » Events archive » 2008 » Innovation Live – 12 November

Innovation Live – 12 November

Innovation Live took place at the QEII Conference Centre in London on 12 November and was attended by around 500 people from within the NHS and from external organisations interested in transforming healthcare.

The event was jointly run by NESTA and the NHS Institute for Innovation & Improvement. It was the first event of its kind to take an in-depth look at exploring and stimulating innovation in health, in terms of services and ways of working.

Highlights of the day included an interactive exhibition and workshops that combined practical examples of innovations that are already making a real difference.

NHS Institute Chief Executive, Bernard Crump, opened the event, saying that he has seen fantastic improvement and change during his 30 years in the NHS and that the challenge for frontline staff is to maintain their passion, enthusiasm and energy for innovation.

Jonathan Kestenbaum, Chief Executive of NESTA, reinforced this by talking about some of the imaginative and ingenious frontline projects being supported by NESTA through the Innovations in Mental Health scheme and Health Launchpad, a partnership with The Young Foundation.

Keynote speaker, Gill Hicks, gave a moving account of her experience of innovation from the patient perspective, having survived the London terrorist attack on 7 July 2005, in which she lost both her legs.

Gill talked about the extraordinary difference that a number of frontline NHS employees had made to her, in many cases coming up with creative and innovative solutions, sometimes under extreme pressure, to aid her rescue and recovery. This resulted in Gill being able to walk down the aisle at her wedding just five months after the bombings.

The day ended on a high with Neil Mullarkey, Founder of the Comedy Store Players, involving the audience in improvisation techniques to enhance their skills in communication and innovation.

NESTA Trustee, Professor Kathy Sykes from the Department of Sciences & Society at Bristol University, hosted the day and chaired an interactive debate on health innovation.

There has been lots of positive feedback from those who attended the event. Here is a selection of quotes that people left on the evaluation forms:

"I liked the examples of innovation - NHS and non-NHS.”
"I was very happy - it surpassed my expectations."
"Really liked the style, timings, layout and organisation."
"Inspirational."
"Brilliant, thank you."
"Today was great."

Photos:

Animation in Therapy;

Neil Mullarky, co-founder of the Comedy Store Players;

Innovation Live Panel;

Visitors at the Innovation Edge conference

Health Launchpad workshop;

Innovation Live exhibition;

David Colin-Thome, OBE, National Director of Primary Care