Network launch to drive innovation and improve health and wellbeing in Wales

Monday 25th March saw the partnership launch of the Innovation Network for Health and Social Care between Life Sciences Hub Wales and the Welsh Government.

The network was officially launched by the Minister for Health and Social Services, Vaughan Gething AM, and NHS Wales Chief Executive Dr Andrew Goodall. 

The first of its kind in Wales, the network aims to bring together innovation champions, leads and practitioners from across the health and care system academia and government. In creating a peer group of innovation experts, we hope to easily identify examples of best practice to support the scale up of effective innovative activity across Wales. 

The Minister said: “‘A Healthier Wales’ sets out the shared policy direction for health and care innovation in Wales. An important characteristic of A Healthier Wales is engagement and co-production.  It is important that all our innovation programmes are complemented by engagement and partnership, which is why I am pleased to launch a Welsh health and social care innovation network, led by the Life Sciences Hub Wales. 

This network will bring together champions, on an all-Wales basis, to source, share and showcase good practice around health and care innovation and to support scale up of innovative activity”. 

Over 80 leaders and practitioners representing every health board and trust in Wales, along with partners from the social care sector, the third sector, universities across the whole of Wales and the Welsh Government attended the launch event, registering to join the network. Many more who were unable to attend have also joined as members of the network.

Denise Puckett, Head of Health and Care Engagement at LSHW said: “In convening the innovation network, we are bringing together teams and expertise to identify and develop innovative solutions. In doing so, we hope to accelerate effective ideas and projects by learning, sharing and scaling up at pace across Wales and beyond. I’m delighted at the appetite for innovation that exists and very much look forward to driving this agenda forward for the benefit of the people of Wales, both from a health and wellbeing perspective”.