MARIE MORTON KATHRENS
PROGRAMME MANAGER – INNOVATION HYWEL DDA UNIVERSITY HEALTH BOARD
BIO A highly experienced Project Manager working within Hywel Dda University Health Board, undertaking a twelve- month secondment role as a Programme Manager within the innovation ecosystem. Working alongside Tritech, ARCH and the Bevan Commission, the role supports the Innovation Leads within Local Health Boards and Trusts across Wales, providing oversight, co-ordination, and collaboration to deliver innovation efficiently. The ILA course has supported the development of a framework to aid the spread of proven healthcare innovation projects throughout Wales.
RESEARCH IMPACT The adoption of innovative healthcare practices and technology is pivotal in advancing the quality of healthcare delivery. Innovations in healthcare face challenges relating to resistance to change, resource constraints, and variation in adoption rates amongst health and social care providers. My research project looked at the diffusion of innovation within the context of the National Health Service in Wales. Innovations can be diffused and there have been efforts in Wales historically to do this specifically within health and care. There has been a body of work and an interest within Wales demonstrated by Welsh Government funded projects including the Spread and Scale Academy run by the Dragon’s Heart Institute and the Bevan Commission who developed and led the National Adopt and Spread programme funded by Welsh Government from 2019 to 2021. There are, however, still many barriers. My research looked at what was required to support proven healthcare innovation projects appropriately spread pan Wales. The aim of the project was to standardise the way to innovate and enable spread pan Wales, thus ensuring that good ideas and projects are developed holistically, and implementation is improved for practitioners. Through interrogation of current literature and working with the Innovation Leads based in health boards across Wales to identify an innovation process, to enable the best use of existing resources already within the innovation ecosystem for Wales. This addresses the inequalities currently experienced by patients, who could be benefiting from knowledge of improved ideas and practices that often remain within silos. It will yield benefits for stakeholders, but only when well designed. The research work was theory-building and has major implications for the way in which innovation is delivered equitably within Wales.
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