Academic Health Science Networks

(asked on 24th November 2015) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of academic health science networks on uptake of medical technology.


Answered by
George Freeman Portrait
George Freeman
This question was answered on 2nd December 2015

Speeding up the adoption of innovation into practice to improve clinical outcomes and patient experience has been one of the four core contractual objectives for Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) since their establishment in 2013.


AHSNs have taken a range of approaches in delivering their objectives which have been selected in response to the priorities of their local populations and health economies. AHSNs are supporting over 150 active programmes and projects across a range of clinical and cross-cutting themes, many of which support the spread and adoption of innovations in their localities. In addition, AHSNs also host the Small Business Research Initiative and are facilitating the creation of Test Beds - both of which involve supporting the development and spread of healthcare technologies.


As part of NHS England’s assurance process, AHSNs are expected to publish annual reports to update their stakeholders on their achievements against their business plans. Annual reports can be found on individual AHSN websites.


Case studies and exemplars of how AHSNs are supporting the speed up adoption of innovation into practice can be found in the resources section of the AHSNs Network website: www.ahsnnetwork.com




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