Innovation
What is innovation?
The Health Foundation describe innovation as “….. doing things differently or doing new things to make positive change.”
Innovation can enable improvements in efficiency, effectiveness, quality, sustainability, and safety in healthcare. These improvements support improved patient experience and outcomes, as well as providing opportunities and associated beneficial impacts for staff.
Innovation can be split into two parts:
- ‘Inventive’ innovation: developing ideas into new products and services.
- ‘Adoptive’ innovation: introducing developed, evaluated and evidence-based innovations into local practice.
Innovations may cover new approaches, practices, treatments, technologies and services.
Innovation at University Hospitals Dorset
Innovation is at the heart of how we all provide quality of care and is an integral part of our service improvement and development.
University Hospitals Dorset has an Innovation Policy and Innovation Strategy which sets out and guides our approach to innovation.
Inventive innovation
For ‘inventive’ innovation, University Hospital Dorset’s Innovation Team provides advice and practical support to staff who have inventive innovation ideas and supports a pipeline of inventive innovation projects.
Adoptive innovation
University Hospital Dorset’s Innovation Team support the implementation of all nationally mandated new innovative technologies; for example those which are covered under NHS England’s Med Tech Funding Mandate Policy.
University Hospital Dorset’s work programme for the adoption of proven innovations to support local priorities aligns with the work programme of the Dorset Innovation Hub (see below). For further information on innovation at University Hospitals Dorset, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Dorset Innovation Hub
University Hospitals Dorset is proud to be a partner in the Dorset Innovation Hub (DIH). The hub is one of 4 newly designated Health Foundation Innovation Hubs in the United Kingdom. The DIH, hosted by University Hospitals Dorset, is overseen by a programme group of 12 partners: primary, community secondary and social care, academia, innovation, research, economy, industry and with patient and public involvement and engagement. The DIH vision is to establish the conditions to facilitate and sustain innovation adoption across the Dorset Integrated Care System for the benefit of patients and service users. For further information on the Dorset Innovation Hub, please see the Dorset Innovation Hub website or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
