Blog

The MedTech Funding Mandate (MTFM) is an NHS Long-Term Plan commitment to introduce selected NICE-approved cost-saving devices, diagnostics and digital products to NHS patients quickly and inclusively. The policy supports technologies that are effective, improve patient outcomes, generate cost-savings and are affordable to the NHS. It mandates NHS commissioners and providers to agree local funding arrangements through their existing allocations.

The policy seeks to ensure equity in healthcare provision, reducing the likelihood that where patients live will affect the quality of care they receive. We have an opportunity to encourage Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to address health inequalities by improving patient equality of access to proven innovations, regardless of geography, ensuring everyone receives the highest standard of care.

While these technologies bring clinical effectiveness and cost-savings, they also provide opportunities for integrated care systems to address some of the significant pressures faced by the NHS, such as reducing hospital waiting times and minimising patients’ length of stay. Using new and innovative methods can improve healthcare efficiency by reducing the demand for costly theatre time and transitioning some surgical procedures to outpatient clinics, while still enhancing patient care quality.

In my role, I am always looking at ways to facilitate the uptake of innovation, such as helping to explore and overcome funding challenges and conducting detailed modelling of expected benefits and cost savings. However, I wanted to share some insight into what I feel is most important to delivering success: building strong relationships with our partners to position ourselves as trusted partners.

The MTFM guidance helpfully identifies the roles and responsibilities of those needed to support adoption of innovation successfully. These include innovators, NHS supply chain, ICBs, NHS providers, and the health innovation networks; however within these groups there are a myriad of teams and individuals who are crucial in achieving successful innovation uptake and doing this at pace.

I invest a lot of my time trying to influence and engage a wide range of stakeholders, meeting new people to continually grow my stakeholder network to enable change. Understanding what is important to these individuals and groups is vital for generating interest, engagement and enthusiasm to drive service transformation.

Before joining Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber, I worked as a civil servant for 15 years. I had various roles which were originally operational, then later in learning and development, risk and audit before moving into project management. Reflecting on past experiences in these roles has heightened my awareness of how change is perceived, particularly by those who feel it’s being ‘done to them’. Whether it’s a training delegate unsure why they’ve been told to attend a course they don’t feel they need, or a team that becomes anxious once I’m introduced as an auditor, it’s crucial to ensure there is a clear understanding of the need for the change and the benefits of the intervention.

This is constantly on my mind when engaging our varied, busy stakeholders, especially when generating interest in these technologies. Training requirements are often a top concern for clinical teams, as they need to understand the impact on their time when learning something new. Commissioners and finance managers, understandably, focus on return on investment and ultimately, the bottom-line cost. For patients, I’m always reminded to never assume what might be the best for them without asking them first! I make it a key priority to ensure patients and carers are listened to and consulted with in the development and implementation of any innovation or new activity. Their involvement and experience of what works well and what could be improved, plays an incredibly important role.

My background in a public sector organisation, where we all followed the same set of standards and guidelines, gave me a unique perspective on how the MTFM policy could be delivered. The auditor in me asked questions around standards and compliance with national policy, and who in our trusts may have an interest in this and share related objectives. This led me to collaborations with regional Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) leads, particularly in urology, who I’ve supported to help develop Urology Area Networks where adoption of MTFM surgical treatment for enlarged prostates can contribute to wider improvements. Creating links with clinical effectiveness teams and, unsurprisingly, internal audit teams has also allowed me access to the National Quality Improvement (including Clinical Audit) Network (NQICAN), where I have raised awareness of how to introduce some improvements to the delivery of urology services through innovation, and delivered a series of workshops for their members.

Building relationships takes time and investment; however it’s something that continues to reap rewards, enabling us to implement change swiftly and effectively, address issues and resolve these quickly and discover exciting new opportunities by working together for the benefits of our communities.

You can find out more about my role and how I can support you to implement the MTFM technologies by contacting me at Adam.Smith@yhahsn.com.

You can also read our recently published Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber’s 2023-24 Impact Report. The report showcases the programmes of work we have been delivering over the last year, including MTFM, with our partners and stakeholders across healthcare, industry and academia to improve the health and prosperity of our region.

Note: this blog was first published on the weekly West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership bulletin on 12 July 2024.