A Solid B.A.S.E. to Innovation within the NHS A New Approach to Social Sustainability

Main Article Content

Tamsin Holland Brown https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0745-8877

Keywords

Abstract

The NHS (National Health Service) Clinical Entrepreneur Programme (CEP) is the world's largest workforce development programme which allows NHS workers to pursue healthcare innovations. The NHS staff learn to successfully develop and spread innovative solutions to the challenges facing the NHS. Social responsibility is the positive and additional contribution of an innovation/ company to society, their ecosystem and community. Many companies know the benefits of a socially responsible approach (customer engagement, team purpose, enhancing reputation, access to contracts requiring adherence to the Social Value Act or the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals) but the challenge has always been a lack of accountability for innovators or businesses in this area.


The UK's National NHS England Clinical Entrepreneur Programme is one of the largest healthcare innovation programmes in the world. Every year, approximately 150 clinicians with an idea or innovation to improve healthcare are accepted onto the programme with an idea or innovation to improve healthcare. There is a new approach within the Clinical Entrepreneur Programme which aims to embed a social purpose into all innovations, using a new principle called B.A.S.E. (thus named because it aims for entrepreneurs to use it as a base for building their innovations). This is a novel approach. Innovation in healthcare needs a socially responsible BASE to an idea or business, which considers the Benefit to society, Advocacy and Accountability, Sustainability and Social Purpose and Ethical leadership by Empowering and Enabling others.


The BASE approach was trailed within the NHS England Clinical Entrepreneur Programme. Firstly, BASE principles were taught face-to-face and on-line. Secondly, the programme itself modelled a socially responsible BASE in its own operational activities. Thirdly, clinical entrepreneurs were able to work through a form and able to submit their social purpose, socially sustainable activities and supply chain aims, which allowed case examples to be highlighted. The BASE programme is a simple, cost-effective approach to engage, improve and lightly monitor socially responsible activities within a health workforce innovation program.


 


 

Abstract 253 | Solid BASE NHS Downloads 159

References

1) Leigh S, Daly R, Stevens S, et al. Web-based internet searches for digital health products in the United Kingdom before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a time-series analysis using app libraries from the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Applications (ORCHA). BMJ Open 2021;11:e053891. doi:10.1136/ bmjopen-2021-053891
2) Peter Newell Citizenship, Accountability and Community: The Limits of the CSR Agenda. May 2005International Affairs 81(3):541 - 557 DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2346.2005.00468.x
3) Dept for Health and British Medical Association ‘Ethical procurement for health’ document.
4) Robert G. Eccles, Ioannis Ioannou, George Serafeim. The Impact of Corporate Sustainability on Organizational Processes and Performance. 6 Nov 2014https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1984]
5) Ian Dodge, Bola Owolabi,Tackling inequalities in NHS healthcare. NHS England and NHS Improvement Board meetings held in common. June 2021.
6) World Health Organisation (WHO). Monitoring the Health-Related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). February 2017, SEARO, New Delhi, India
7) Kelly N, Blake S, Plunkett A. Learning from excellence in healthcare: A new approach to incident reporting. Arch Dis Child 2016;101:788–791.