Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) are membership organisations within the NHS in England. They were created in May 2013 with the aim of bringing together health services, and academic and industry members. Their stated purpose is to improve patient outcomes and generate economic benefits by promoting and encouraging the adoption of innovation in healthcare. In 2019 the AHSNs were issued with a fresh five-year licence to continue their work.[1]
A report in 2008 by Lord Ara Darzi[2] noted that the NHS was poor at innovating, and suggested wider collaboration between industry, education and all aspects of healthcare. The NHS is one of the world's largest employers[3] and with the UK's spending on healthcare at over £140b in 2010 or 9.6% of national GDP,[4] it is a key component of the national economy. There is a generally recognised need to improve the NHS's ability to identify and adopt innovation.[5]
AHSNs were first proposed by name in the 2011 report "Innovation Health and Wealth"[6] by Sir David Nicholson, chief executive of NHS England, and launched by the Prime Minister, David Cameron. A request for expressions of interest was issued in June 2012[7] and, on 23 May 2013, the 15 designated AHSNs were announced.[8][9] They are regional, with non-overlapping territories covering the whole of England.
AHSNs take their place in the "fragmented, cluttered and confusing"[6] landscape of NHS innovation. As part of the "Sunset Review"[6] a number of initiatives closed in 2013 including the NHS National Innovation Centre, NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, and Health Innovation and Education Clusters (HIECs). There is still a range of active initiatives including NHS Innovation Hubs, NHS Supply Chain Innovation and NHS Improvement.
Fundingedit
Core funding comes from NHS England and work was "in hand to identify the funding" when expressions of interest were invited.[7] A briefing paper[10] assumed funding to be in the region of £2 per head of population served. With a population averaging 3m people, a typical AHSN might have expected roughly £6m per AHSN per year. These figures reflect early expectations but were neither clarified nor confirmed with the designation announcement.
When contracts were signed with NHS England in November 2013, the 15 AHSNs shared around £60 million of funding.[citation needed]
Operation and activityedit
Although their purpose is clear, the structure and approach of individual AHSNs is a matter for local decision. This is apparent in the contrasting approaches taken and the variety of opinions expressed by network founders.[11]
As membership organisations, AHSNs do not have any direct authority over their members, but the Innovation Health and Wealth report states: "all NHS organisations will aspire to be affiliated to their local AHSN where the AHSN will operate as a gateway for the NHS on innovation and working with the life sciences industry on the evaluation, commercialisation and rapid adoption of health technologies".[6] They will be seen to be successful if and only if they can demonstrably improve the rate of adoption of medical technologies and ICTs.[12]
In April 2014, it emerged that NHS England's 2014–15 business plan showed that AHSNs would receive £53.6m that financial year, a 5 per cent cut on the previous year's budget. However, it represents a larger 23 per cent cut on the £70m NHS England announced in May 2013. A senior AHSN figure told the Health Service Journal that NHS England risked "castrating" the programme by cutting the budget and by a perceived lack of promotion of the networks. "They are trying to save a comparatively small amount of money [by cutting the budget] but in doing so they risk castrating the AHSNs. Commissioners are not going to sign up to us if they are thinking that we are not going to be around in two years' time".[13]
In 2019, the AHSNs received a new five-year licence, running to 2023, funded by NHS England, NHS Improvement and the Office of Life Sciences.[14]
^High Quality Care for All: NHS Next Stage Review, Department of Health, 2008
^"Which is the world's largest employer?". BBC. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
^"Expenditure on Healthcare in the UK: 2011". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
^Academic Health Sciences Networks in England, David Fish, The Lancet, Volume 381, Issue 9882, Pages e18 - e19, 8 June 2013, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60866-6
^ abcdInnovation Health and Wealth: Accelerating Adoption and Diffusion in the NHS, Department of Health, 5 December 2011
^ abAcademic Health Science Networks: expressions of interest, Department of Health, 20 June 2012
^"NHS England Gives Green Light on £70m Innovation Networks Project". Health Service Journal. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
^"AHSN Designation Announcement". NHS England. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
^Academic Health Science Networks: Engaging with Improvement, NHS Confederation, June 2012[permanent dead link]
^Johnson, Sarah (26 April 2013). "Academic Health Science Networks: their role and development". London: The Guardian, 26 April 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
^Medd, Claire (1 July 2013). "Why 2013 Could Turn Out to be a Watershed Year for Telehealth". London: The Guardian, 1 July 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
^"Innovation network could slip into 'self-defeating spiral'". Health Service Journal. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
^The AHSN Network: delivering regional and national platforms for transformation of care
External linksedit
List of the 15 AHSNs – West of England AHSN, accessed 20 August 2020
January 01, 1970
academic, health, science, networks, ahsns, membership, organisations, within, england, they, were, created, 2013, with, bringing, together, health, services, academic, industry, members, their, stated, purpose, improve, patient, outcomes, generate, economic, . Academic Health Science Networks AHSNs are membership organisations within the NHS in England They were created in May 2013 with the aim of bringing together health services and academic and industry members Their stated purpose is to improve patient outcomes and generate economic benefits by promoting and encouraging the adoption of innovation in healthcare In 2019 the AHSNs were issued with a fresh five year licence to continue their work 1 Contents 1 Background and history 2 Funding 3 Operation and activity 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksBackground and history editA report in 2008 by Lord Ara Darzi 2 noted that the NHS was poor at innovating and suggested wider collaboration between industry education and all aspects of healthcare The NHS is one of the world s largest employers 3 and with the UK s spending on healthcare at over 140b in 2010 or 9 6 of national GDP 4 it is a key component of the national economy There is a generally recognised need to improve the NHS s ability to identify and adopt innovation 5 AHSNs were first proposed by name in the 2011 report Innovation Health and Wealth 6 by Sir David Nicholson chief executive of NHS England and launched by the Prime Minister David Cameron A request for expressions of interest was issued in June 2012 7 and on 23 May 2013 the 15 designated AHSNs were announced 8 9 They are regional with non overlapping territories covering the whole of England AHSNs take their place in the fragmented cluttered and confusing 6 landscape of NHS innovation As part of the Sunset Review 6 a number of initiatives closed in 2013 including the NHS National Innovation Centre NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement and Health Innovation and Education Clusters HIECs There is still a range of active initiatives including NHS Innovation Hubs NHS Supply Chain Innovation and NHS Improvement Funding editCore funding comes from NHS England and work was in hand to identify the funding when expressions of interest were invited 7 A briefing paper 10 assumed funding to be in the region of 2 per head of population served With a population averaging 3m people a typical AHSN might have expected roughly 6m per AHSN per year These figures reflect early expectations but were neither clarified nor confirmed with the designation announcement When contracts were signed with NHS England in November 2013 the 15 AHSNs shared around 60 million of funding citation needed Operation and activity editAlthough their purpose is clear the structure and approach of individual AHSNs is a matter for local decision This is apparent in the contrasting approaches taken and the variety of opinions expressed by network founders 11 As membership organisations AHSNs do not have any direct authority over their members but the Innovation Health and Wealth report states all NHS organisations will aspire to be affiliated to their local AHSN where the AHSN will operate as a gateway for the NHS on innovation and working with the life sciences industry on the evaluation commercialisation and rapid adoption of health technologies 6 They will be seen to be successful if and only if they can demonstrably improve the rate of adoption of medical technologies and ICTs 12 In April 2014 it emerged that NHS England s 2014 15 business plan showed that AHSNs would receive 53 6m that financial year a 5 per cent cut on the previous year s budget However it represents a larger 23 per cent cut on the 70m NHS England announced in May 2013 A senior AHSN figure told the Health Service Journal that NHS England risked castrating the programme by cutting the budget and by a perceived lack of promotion of the networks They are trying to save a comparatively small amount of money by cutting the budget but in doing so they risk castrating the AHSNs Commissioners are not going to sign up to us if they are thinking that we are not going to be around in two years time 13 In 2019 the AHSNs received a new five year licence running to 2023 funded by NHS England NHS Improvement and the Office of Life Sciences 14 See also editNational Institute for Clinical Excellence National Institute for Health and Care Research Academic health science centreReferences edit The NHS Long Term Plan High Quality Care for All NHS Next Stage Review Department of Health 2008 Which is the world s largest employer BBC 20 March 2012 Retrieved 21 June 2013 Expenditure on Healthcare in the UK 2011 Office for National Statistics Retrieved 21 June 2013 Academic Health Sciences Networks in England David Fish The Lancet Volume 381 Issue 9882 Pages e18 e19 8 June 2013 doi 10 1016 S0140 6736 12 60866 6 a b c d Innovation Health and Wealth Accelerating Adoption and Diffusion in the NHS Department of Health 5 December 2011 a b Academic Health Science Networks expressions of interest Department of Health 20 June 2012 NHS England Gives Green Light on 70m Innovation Networks Project Health Service Journal Retrieved 21 June 2013 AHSN Designation Announcement NHS England Retrieved 11 June 2013 Academic Health Science Networks Engaging with Improvement NHS Confederation June 2012 permanent dead link Johnson Sarah 26 April 2013 Academic Health Science Networks their role and development London The Guardian 26 April 2013 Retrieved 21 June 2013 Medd Claire 1 July 2013 Why 2013 Could Turn Out to be a Watershed Year for Telehealth London The Guardian 1 July 2013 Retrieved 2 July 2013 Innovation network could slip into self defeating spiral Health Service Journal 15 April 2014 Retrieved 4 May 2014 The AHSN Network delivering regional and national platforms for transformation of careExternal links editList of the 15 AHSNs West of England AHSN accessed 20 August 2020 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Academic Health Science Networks amp oldid 1125538210, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
