Innovations Network
What's working? And how can the NHS learn from its own successes and those elsewhere in the health world?
There are many places inside and outside the NHS where the values of patient-centred service and healing are thriving. We have been actively seeking them out as we develop the College’s Innovations Network.
Here are the first few. Over the coming months a core of Network members will become Demonstration Sites, opening their doors to anyone interested in seeing practical examples of these new approaches to healthcare.
Explore our first group of innovators, and sign up for our newsletter to keep up to date with new additions.
If you would like to be considered for our Innovators Network, please contact us info@collegeofmedicine.org.uk.
We now also have a network for Innovators to discuss projects - do join us at innovationsnetwork.ning.com
The Centre is called Bywva (Place of Life) and promotes health and well-being across the curriculum including the concepts of Blue and Green Gym activities.
It provides information, advice and guidance for young people primarily under the headings of:
Sexual Health
Nutrition
Diet and Self Image
Drugs and Alcohol issues
Shortlisted for our Innovations Award 2011.
Year...
This project uses a case finding tool to develop targeted screening, which evidence suggests would identify older people at a primary care level who are at risk of functional decline, and prevent them from deteriorating even further.
This methodology is based on a well documented Sherbrooke Postal questionnaire. The programme focuses initially on GP’s list of patients aged 65 and over...
Altogether Better has developed an evidence based approach to engaging, training and supporting individuals in communities to become volunteer Community Health Champions.
Our aim is to work together with champions, patients and health care practitioners to improve the health and wellbeing of communities across the country. We do this by:
• Strengthening the voice of Community Health...
We deliver the best of NHS homeopathic care to the South West region and the Midlands. Our vision is to engage with patients to improve symptoms and wellbeing across a range of complex medical conditions.
Year established
1994
Number of staff
12
Number of users
3,500 per year
Is there a charge to users?
No charge to patients.
What makes your project sustainable...
The British College of Integrative Medicine has successfully established the UK’ s first university accredited postgraduate Diploma in the Study of Integrative Medicine.
The interprofessional course gives doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals an opportunity to study the principles and practice of evidence-based integrative medicine in order to enhance the patient-centred and...
The Bromley by Bow Centre is an innovative healthy living centre working in one of the most deprived boroughs in the UK. The Centre works with local people to empower them and transform the community. The Centre supports people in reaching their potential through a range of programmes that build collective and individual skills and capacities. Our aim is to remove the label ‘deprived’ from...
This is an integrated complementary therapy service at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.
The team are engaged in a number of service evaluations and research projects. They disseminate their work through publications, educational events, courses and conferences. The team also provides services for carers and staff, as well as specialist wound care support and smoking cessation...
Bad health in poor communities is often linked to social factors, like anti-social behaviour and poor access to good food.
The Connecting Communities project is led by a healthcare practitioner, but supports communities themselves to lead transformational change. There is good evidence that it works, and all the projects to date have survived and become self-managing. It was the...
Connecting with People is evidence-based training for healthcare professionals in suicide and self harm prevention.
The training is tailored for different clinical specialties.
It aims to increase empathy, reduce stigma and enhance participants’ ability to compassionately respond to someone who has suicidal thoughts or following self harm. This programme supports the development of a...
The Green Gym is Conservation Volunteers vehicle for health promotion – a socially inclusive, innovative alternative to traditional gyms.
A health promotion approach, it provides a natural workout in the outdoors, increasing physical activity, promoting mental well-being and improving the local environment. Through a flexible needs-based approach the Green Gym tackles issues of: obesity,...
This project is an attempt to push the boundaries of general practice in terms of patient involvement and encouraging self help, thus generating better community health.
The surgery's community health café, gardens, self diagnostic facilities and its extended virtual and group self help programme are all designed to help patients better care for themselves.
Our patient group is involved in...
The Complementary Therapy Service promotes physical, psychological and spiritual well being to service users over 65 within Older Persons Mental Health Services, as well as support to their carers where appropriate.
The aims of the service are:
To provide a holistic approach, including to attend to medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of life.
To...
We encourage freedom of expression, creativity and the innate talents and gifts within all children, young people and adults.
Ecodysgu means 'Eco Learn'. Based in a group of farm buildings which are being gradually restored from ruins, the project also finds innovative ways to mend lives. It teaches children at risk of being excluded from education using techniques from woodwork...
ExtraCare’s Wellbeing Service supports older people to live as independently as possible and be proactive in managing their own health and wellbeing.
Wellbeing Advisers (Registered Nurses) support residents to make informed decisions about their lifestyle and health via a holistic Wellbeing Assessment. On average residents experience a 9% health improvement between first assessment and...
Fit as a Fiddle is funded by the Big Lottery Fund as part of their Wellbeing programme. It is designed by older people for older people to help improve their physical health and mental well being.
fit as a fiddle comprises of two national projects and 24 regional projects, which are delivered throughout England. Activities range from Aqua Aerobics to Zumba. Over 300,000 older people...
A General Practice/Primary Care Service whose mission is to promote health and well-being, as well as provide crisis intervention and disease management.
Foxhill places a high value on a positive compassionate healing culture and holistic medical care, embracing integrative approaches and fostering an atmosphere of ownership by patients over their healthcare. It is the winner of...
Established in 1992 the Integrated Medicine Programme is based at Freshwinds, a unique charity based in Birmingham. Through the collective efforts of a strong team of medical and therapeutic professionals it offers innovative integrated care models to alleviate the health and well-being challenges faced by people living with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions.
The programme is...
Aromatherapy was introduced into the maternity unit at the George Eliot hospital to embrace its philosophy of normal midwifery care and as a tool for aiding childbirth.
The proven relaxing qualities of aromatherapy have been instrumental in reducing levels of anxiety during both labour and the post-natal period. It has alsohad the further benefit of reducing patient...
Get Into Reading (GIR) is The Reader Organisation’s pioneering outreach project.
It currently runs 366 weekly read-aloud reading groups across the country in settings as varied as youth clubs, high-secure psychiatric settings, workplaces, dementia care homes, prisons, drug rehabs, schools, day centres, libraries and cafes.
Shared reading groups provide an appealing and holistic service to...
We aim to offer patients presenting to our practice an integrated approach to a range of problems. We tend to focus on musculo-skeletal, psychosocial and some metabolic/hormonal disorders.
We have 2 funding streams - NHS-funded osteopathy and acupuncture,and a subsidized herbal medicine and massage therapy service through our practice charity (The Somerset Trust for Integrated Health Care)....
The Club is a self-directed community group promoting the wellbeing of its members –people with dementia, their carers and friends– by endowing them with a strong sense of belonging.
A low sense of belonging being a much stronger predictor of depression than lack of social support. Members meet weekly around a programme of activities which are clinically proven to alleviate the symptoms of...
ICATS Chronic Pain is a community based service in Kent helping people who suffer from persistent and severe pains to develop ways to self manage their pain.
Their team of specialists in pain management include nurses, doctors, psychologists, physiotherapists, supportive practitioners (Alexander Technique teachers, acupuncturists, and Tai Chi instructors) and an administrative team.
It is...
Impact Integrated Medicine Partnership is a social enterprise which currently provides acupuncture, chiropractic and homeopathy in primary care settings.
We combine the best of both conventional and complementary medicine to provide flexible, whole person care which results in lasting, sustainable improvements in physical and mental health.
We work closely with GP practices, Nottingham City...
Insider Art work for emotionally intelligent and psychologically informed arts interventions for health settings.
As dual trained artists and psychotherapists, we do this by training artists and health practitioners, organizing courses and conferences and delivering arts projects as well as psychotherapy and mentoring services. We maintain an extensive and informative website and as...
Inverness Homeless Day Centre medical team makes primary care services more accessible to homeless people
Year established
2005
Number of staff
1 full time, and 2 part time
Number of users
150 per year
Is there a charge to users?
No charge to patients.
What makes your project sustainable?
NHS funded
Innovation
Unlike many homeless medical services in...
The Living Well Model is an approach to serious illness which identifies and works with the person’s response to their diagnosis and treatments, assists adjustment and for some plans their eventual end of life care.
The Living Well Service offers a range of resources to support clients and their families who have been diagnosed with a life-threatening or life-limiting illness. The...
Living Well Dying Well aims to improve people's experience of death and dying and to help them view it as a normal part of life. The scheme promotes 'death literacy' through information, education and support.
Vital parts of the scheme include educating people to be 'doulas' for the dying, facilitating awareness-raising workshops and encouraging community participation in discussions...
The London Pathway is a model of integrated healthcare for single homeless people and rough sleepers.
Its aim is to put the patient at the centre of their own care pathway and works towards transforming health outcomes for one of the most vulnerable and deprived groups in our society. They believe that their model of healthcare, developed for and with homeless people, will also help...
All the projects of the Older People's Service aim to improve healthy life expectancy and reduce health inequalities among older people. They include physical activity, a falls prevention service, and a health walk followed by a healthy lifestyle quiz
Year established
1994
Number of staff
2.5 paid staff, one volunteer
Number of users
1008 per year
Is there a...
P.A.T.H.S. is a team of well trained volunteers, managed by a volunteer coordinator. The volunteers are matched to patients of Luther Street Medical Centre who express a desire to be accompanied to attend health related appointments.
All the patients of the Medical Centre are either rough sleeping, experiencing homelessness or vulnerably housed.
Year established...
Haughton Thornley Medical Centres have created a structure for as many patients as possible to access their health records via the internet.
They are also encouraged to use transactional services and the practice-based web portal to support their ongoing health needs, alongside traditional face to face or telephone based services. The way the service is managed supports a partnership...
Patient.co.uk is a leading independent health information website. Its purpose is to provide trusted medical information and support to patients and the general public in the UK and to medical professionals.
In January 2013, The Times recommended the site as ‘the top health website you can’t live without’ .
The website contains over 900 patient-focused information pages, which meet...
Penny Brohn Cancer Care meets the support and information needs of people living with and beyond cancer and their supporters. We do this through a range of residential and non residential courses, information on complementary therapies, psychological support services, complementary therapies and integrative doctors.
Year established
1980
Number of staff
44 paid staff, 40...
Planet Asthma is an innovative arts and health project that was funded by Asthma UK`s challenge fund 2006/2007.
Using creativity it has explored the themes and issues of understanding, treating and managing asthma through structured and facilitated art workshops held in locations across London.
Year established
2006
Number of staff
Paid Staff (FT equivalent)The...
Promotes holistic health and motivates positive change with hard to reach groups, especially in prisons.
Positive Image help people in prison make their own films about the challenges of prison life - and about how to stay healthy afterwards.
The charity offers complete projects, planning, risk assessment, budgeting, insurance and creative group work, which results in a finished,...
The Poundbury Clinic's aim is to provide a patient-centred fertility service using highly trained and qualified practitioners who offer safe and effective comprehensive diagnosis and treatment using conventional and complementary medicine to address particular needs. Our Fit for Fertility programme aims to improve chances of natural conception as well as assisted conception if...
REAL Life is a community based group programme for people with long term conditions. The course aims to provide structured psycho-educational support for individuals with diverse medical and psychological conditions.
Each programme is run over 8 half day sessions; is delivered by a qualified psychotherapist with a support worker. The programme includes: Cognitive-Behavioural...
The project improved hospital food by procuring local and regional organic food. It has increased the nutritional content of all aspects of patients' diets. All food is cooked on site using seasonal ingredients from traceable sources.
Year established
2003/2004
Number of staff
1,753 hospital staff on site
Number of users
Over 50,000 meals prepared for patients...
This is an NHS centre for integrated medicine, part of University College NHS Foundation Trust.
The Clinical services available include: Allergy, Autogenic training, Complementary cancer care, Facial pain, Fibromyalgia, General medicine, Group acupuncture, Herbal medicine, Insomnia, Medical hypnosis, Musculoskeletal, Pharmacy, Podiatry, Rheumatology, Skin, Stress & mood disorder...
We are a modern, forward thinking, innovative GP practice who are also creating a social enterprise to aid the delivery of out of hospital integrated care for our patients when they need it.
As part of a long term programme by SMG to build on the range of NHS and paid for healthcare services that benefit the local community, additional services are now available via the social...
A service offering acupuncture as pain relief for osteoarthritic knees, and sometimes instead of knee replacement from a surgery in St Albans.
We were convinced that ‘low cost and safe ‘ treatments which are typical of complementary therapies, such as acupuncture, could save the NHS considerable costs of expensive secondary care and so produce savings.
Patient-centered services are now...
Stay Well 75 is an integrated programme that identifies by a case finding approach older people over the age of 75 who are beginning to become frail. The Stay Well Team cares for 850 people over 75 years of age and there is a dedicated team with one whole time equivalent.
Year established
1986
Number of staff
2.5 FT, 25 volunteers
Number of users
850
Is there a charge...
• Activities help relieve physical and mental health symptoms, to reduce isolation and give people knowledge of ways of keeping themselves healthy. Advice and information is given to participants.
• Participants learn how to do therapies such as Tai Chi or Yoga for themselves, thus increasing their skills and knowledge levels within the community.
• the therapists see themselves as...
The Green Dreams Project provides local, community-based solutions in East Lancashire to unemployment, isolation and reduced quality of life.
The project prioritises those who other agencies have been unable to help. Our uniqueness is the triad of support that we offer: tailored coordinated care; marrying health needs with social needs; the creation of meaningful group activities.
We do...
The Haven aims to provide community based supportive and palliative care to improve the quality of life, emotional health and wellbeing of people affected by a range of life limiting conditions such as cancer, MS & MND.
The Haven offers support at all stages from diagnosis onwards. This support is also made available to all members of a patient's family. A range of more than...
The Prince’s Trust’s Health Steps programme primary aim is to improve the health and wellbeing of young people and at the same time introducing them to potential volunteering and employment opportunities within Health and Social Care.
The programme is designed around the Royal Society of Public Health Level 1 Health Awareness and Level 2 Understanding Health Improvement and is delivered in...
Adolescents and front line professionals have co-designed a web based 'app' to coach professionals in how best to meet the communication and health needs of young people.
Everyone is welcome to see and download the app here.
Year established
2012
Number of staff
1 paid staff (F/T equivalent). 2 days a week of a freelance design team who worked over 3 months to...
Emphasising an approach to healing that values mind, body and spirit, the US-based Center is committed to evaluating the scientific foundation of complementary and alternative medicine.
Based in Baltimore, Maryland, University of Maryland School of Medicine Center for Integrative Medicine educates both health professionals and the public, integrating evidence-based complementary therapies...
South West Wellbeing achieves effective local actions promoting health, wellbeing and independent living for older people suffering social isolation, low level mental health or age related conditions.
This holistic model uses local delivery partners providing physical mental & emotional activities (walking, balance, gardening, art, cooking, Choir, friendship) and volunteering. Well UK...
The Wester Hailes Health Agency provides a unique holistic service to its local community Service users are able to participate in a wide range of health inducing activities that are offered either free or for a minimal charge.
The Agency is held in high regard by local people and professional healthcare providers as an exemplary example of how to offer a user led service with a local...
The Whittington hospital, in collaboration with the Asante Academy of Chinese Medicine, runs a full time maternity acupuncture service.
This service is part of a maternity service that offers a holistic spectrum of services which include high risk obstetrics as well as a birth centre and an excellent homebirth team whose ethos is to help normalise birth. The maternity acupuncture service...
The University of Bristol offers first year medical undergraduates a foundation training in whole person care care.
The course features teaching on systems thinking, the therapeutic relationship, PNI, the arts in healthcare, compulsory creativity, and integrative medicine. It was the winner of the education section of our Innovations Award 2011.
Year established
2002
Number of...
Our smoking cessation project focuses on self-care, patient participation, and the shared aim of creating more resilient communities.
The smoking cessation team aim to assist individuals who wish to stop smoking by adopting a non-judgemental, empathic and supportive approach. The teamwork in collaboration with relevant hospital and community based professionals to provide a robust and...