A major Open Innovation Workshop to build upon developments in informatics, digital health and precision medicine to provide better patient outcomes for people with cancer. Image On 7 July 2015 the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) launched the Innovation Challenge Fund AY/2015/16. In partnership with the Chief Scientist Office, the SFC will focus the first year of funding on innovations in health with a focus on cancer. It is anticipated that up to a total of £1million in project support will be awarded. ‘Transforming Cancer Care in Scotland’ was hosted by the Farr Institute @ Scotland at Nine, Edinburgh BioQuarter and brought together Scottish Funding Council Innovation Centres, Scottish Government, NHS Scotland, universities, industry and third sector organisations. The meeting’s agenda was developed to spark creative and pioneering concepts which could be developed into proposals for the SFC Innovation Challenge Fund. Opened by Professor Andrew Morris, Chief Scientist, Scottish Government Health Directorates and Director of the Farr Institute @ Scotland, the meeting addressed how collaboration could allow Scotland to gain international recognition in caring for people with cancer. Dr Aileen Keel CBE, former Deputy and Acting Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, outlined the NHS Scotland vision for cancer data; to develop a national cancer data infrastructure, linking primary, secondary, and ultimately social, care data to improve patient outcomes. Dr Keel, who has recently been seconded to the Farr Institute @ Scotland as Director of the Innovative Health Care Delivery Programme, emphasised that linked and aligned data are fundamental to improving cancer outcomes and that joining up Scotland’s abundance of cancer data has the potential to enhance research and innovation opportunities. Following an insightful and thought-provoking personal account of cancer care from a patient’s perspective, attendees heard from representatives across academia, industry and healthcare who illustrated how collaboration could help Scotland achieve global impact in cancer patient care. After an opportunity to network and initiate conversation, delegates engaged in group discussions to identify potentially transformational activities. These included how to support prevention and early diagnosis, developing a world leading cancer intelligence system, early detection of reoccurrence, stratifying routine care and improvements to quality of life. The Scottish Funding Council invited the Innovation Centres to lead and develop collaborative proposals, capturing priorities identified from the day’s discussions which could lead to significantly improve services for cancer patients in Scotland. Proposals will be submitted by 31 August and, following a competitive selection process, successful projects will be awarded funding by the end of the year. The group will meet again in January to discuss progress and report final outcomes to the Scottish Funding Council in May 2016. Farr Institute Innovative Health Care Delivery Programme Scottish Funding Council Publication date 14 Oct, 2015
