Lenus Health joins landmark partnership to improve Scotland’s health
NHS Golden Jubilee’s national Centre for Sustainable Delivery, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, University of Glasgow, AstraZeneca UK and Lenus Health, as the exclusive digital partner, have signed a transformational Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
A ground-breaking collaboration between the NHS, academia and industry partners has been launched to co-create NHS Scotland transformation through large scale programmes to improve the health of the population and expand clinical research.
NHS Golden Jubilee’s national Centre for Sustainable Delivery, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, University of Glasgow, AstraZeneca UK and Lenus Health have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to:
- deliver NHS transformation by testing new patient pathways / digital technologies to enable earlier diagnosis and treatment,
- enable large scale clinical trials and studies in Scotland,
- collect evidence to assess the effectiveness of these new clinical management pathways, and
- scale up successful pathways to spread across NHS Scotland.
The partnership has the potential to change clinical practice, improve patient outcomes and reduce waiting times, with an initial focus on long term conditions and priorities set by Scottish Government.
[Partners] have signed the MOU to deliver NHS transformation by testing new patient pathways / digital technologies to enable earlier diagnosis and treatment
The expansion of clinical research will promote the profile of Scotland and change clinical practice around the world. Close collaboration between the NHS, academia and industry partners will create many opportunities to expand the Scottish economy. The ambition is that patients throughout Scotland with all chronic diseases will be offered enrolment in studies and trials of new pathways and therapies.
The first project being considered for rollout across NHS Scotland is the Optimised Pathway for Early Identification of Heart Failure in the Community (OPERA) – a collaboration between AstraZeneca UK, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, University of Glasgow, Lenus Health and West of Scotland Innovation teams.
The OPERA digital patient pathway was trialled at NHS Louisa Jordan during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Patients attended a single clinic appointment to undergo a bank of tests including electrocardiogram heart tracing, echocardiogram ultrasound heart scan and blood-based biomarkers.
During the pilot, the waiting list for heart failure diagnostic tests was reduced from over 12 months to just 6 weeks.
Other projects being considered include:
- Prevention of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Lung Attacks by eaRly Intervention Strategies (POLARIS)
- Screening for earlY heart failure diagnosis and Management in Primary care or at HOme using Natriuretic peptides and echocardiography (SYMPHONY) – a 5-country trial with a Scottish arm called TARTAN-HF)
Professor Jann Gardner, Chief Executive of NHS Golden Jubilee, said: “The national Centre for Sustainable Delivery at NHS Golden Jubilee has been set up specifically to renew and transform healthcare services across NHS Scotland and is uniquely positioned to deliver transformation programmes at scale through the Accelerated National Innovation Adoption pathway.
“This collaboration provides opportunities to improve patient care, employ new technologies and medicines, while addressing the impact of health inequalities and social barriers to provide a more sustainable future healthcare system.
Professor Julie Brittenden, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s Director of Research and Innovation said: “We are already seeing great success in our COVID recovery, with a growth in the number of transformative studies involving novel medicines, devices, digital enabled technologies and artificial intelligence.
“This collaboration further adds to the opportunity to undertake high quality research and innovation projects such as OPERA, which will directly impact on and improve patient-centred care.”
This MOU represents our commitment to work with NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, University of Glasgow, Centre for Sustainable Delivery and Lenus Health to improve and integrate chronic disease pathways, reduce waiting times and address healthcare inequality.
Tom Keith-Roach, President of AstraZeneca UK
Tom Keith-Roach, President, AstraZeneca UK, said: “Building on the success of project OPERA this MOU represents our commitment to work with NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, University of Glasgow, Centre for Sustainable Delivery and Lenus Health to improve and integrate chronic disease pathways, reduce waiting times and address healthcare inequality.
“Together, under this agreement we will establish Scotland as an engine for care model innovation, for generating practice changing evidence, and for scaling new care models to improve outcomes for patients.”
As the exclusive digital partner of this unique agreement, we are delighted to be part of a new way of working that will enable innovations to be developed and implemented rapidly at scale.
Paul McGinness, CEO of Lenus Health
Paul McGinness, Chief Executive Officer, Lenus Health said: “As the exclusive digital partner of this unique agreement, we are delighted to be part of a new way of working that will enable innovations to be developed and implemented rapidly at scale in Scotland and across the NHS.
“Through our work supporting patients to manage long-term conditions using virtual care and AI platforms, we have seen first-hand how it can reduce waiting lists and prevent readmissions.
“By joining up data across clinical pathways and giving patients tools to engage with their health services, providers can significantly improve outcomes and enable more personalised healthcare.
“Not only will this agreement help expand these benefits at scale, but the commitment to the Scottish digital health and artificial intelligence ecosystem will also be beneficial to the local economy by encouraging investment in the technology sector and generating jobs.”
Professor Iain McInnes, University of Glasgow Vice Principal and Head of the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, said: “We are delighted to be signing this important MOU, which represents a strengthening of the vital triple helix partnership between research, industry and the NHS.
“Using the world-changing research carried out at the University of Glasgow, we will work together with AstraZeneca and the NHS in Scotland with the aim to deliver more high calibre trials and ultimately improve patient care.”
Notes to Editors:
For more information, please contact Natalie Chishick (natalie@silver-buck.com) on behalf of Lenus Health
NHS Golden Jubilee
A national institution, independently run by its own NHS Board, NHS Golden Jubilee* delivers care through collaboration. NHS Golden Jubilee has a national portfolio and the Chief Executive is accountable for the Golden Jubilee University National Hospital, NHS Scotland Academy, national Centre for Sustainable Delivery, Golden Jubilee Research Institute and the Golden Jubilee Conference Hotel.
* The NHS National Waiting Times Centre continues to be the legal name for the Board.
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) is the largest NHS organisation in Scotland and one of the largest in the UK, employing around 39,000 staff. NHSGGC is responsible for providing and managing a whole range of health services including hospitals and General Practice. Serving a population of 1.14million people, NHSGGC works alongside partnership organisations including Local Authorities and the voluntary sector.
Lenus Health
Lenus Health helps unlock the existing health data silos to facilitate more efficient and effective care pathways, with a focus on the most challenging long-term conditions. Our interoperable platform underpins digital services to enable more streamlined clinical workflows and allows providers to do more with their existing IT infrastructure, enhanced by wearable and device integrations. The platform is proven to act as a test bed for innovation used to operationalise AI tools and generate unique structured datasets. Transforming the end-to-end pathway for chronic disease creates a more sustainable system with patients at the centre of their care journey. Learn more by visiting www.lenushealth.com and following @lenushealth on Twitter.
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is a top world 100 University (THE, QS) and the current Times and Sunday Times Good University of the Year 2022. The University is a member of the prestigious Russell Group of leading UK Universities and has annual research income of more than £180m. As a world-leading, research-intensive University, the University of Glasgow is committed to contributing towards the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and has committed to carbon neutrality by 2030. Glasgow was the first UK University to declare it would divest from fossil fuels within a decade and the first in Scotland to declare a Climate Emergency.
In 2021, the University of Glasgow received a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its national service to the Covid-19 pandemic.
AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialisation of prescription medicines in Oncology, Rare Diseases, and BioPharmaceuticals, including Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism, and Respiratory & Immunology. AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide. AstraZeneca is based in six different locations across the UK, with its global headquarters in Cambridge. In the UK, almost 8,000 employees work in research and development, manufacturing, supply, sales and marketing. We supply 34 different medicines to the NHS, which treat more than one million UK patients every year. For more information, please visit www.astrazeneca.co.uk and follow us on Twitter @AstraZenecaUK.