News

Clinical Entrepreneur training programme will nurture leaders of new innovation culture

A national training programme to nurture England’s most inventive and innovative clinicians will open for applications on Wednesday 11 November 2015.

Integrated Clinical Entrepreneur Training, developed and managed by NHS England and Health Education England, is designed to keep the most forward-thinking, entrepreneurial clinicians within this country, bringing the benefit of cutting-edge new treatments and care pathways to the patients who need it – and keeping the money generated within the British economy.

The brightest junior doctors who have a clinical innovation or enterprise currently under development will now be able to apply for prestigious Clinical Entrepreneur Fellowship under the brand-new training scheme, receiving mentorship from international entrepreneurs and health innovators.

A core training scheme, open to all doctors beginning to specialise their skills following five years of undergraduate and junior doctor training, will offer crash-courses and bite-sized study in starting and running a business, regulation and governance, and building investment. Over the coming years, both the fellowship and the core training scheme will be rolled out to nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, to harness the knowledge, skills and experience of all England’s clinicians.

Professor Tony Young, National Clinical Director for Innovation at NHS England, said: “The integrated programmes had been developed to turn a worrying “brain drain” of the best clinical entrepreneurial talent from the NHS, into a major, self-sustaining “brain gain” across the UK.”

He said: “Our trainee clinicians know they need to understand and improve the healthcare system, not just deliver it, but until now there has been no training route for the UK’s talented clinical innovators.

“Integrated Clinical Entrepreneur Training will be a world-first that can put the UK back at the forefront of clinical innovation and entrepreneurship, and will enable the NHS to deliver on the promise of the revolution in genomics, advanced technology, data analytics and social networks that are currently transforming modern life.”

The scheme is backed by the medical training deaneries in all areas of England, who will be working in partnership with training universities and with NHS England to develop detailed courses and packages over the coming months.

Professor Jacky Hayden, Dean of Postgraduate Medical Studies at Health Education North West, said: “We have worked quickly to draw this programme together, because we know what a big difference it will make to offer this formal, recognized training that will count towards clinicians’ professional qualifications. With Integrated Clinical Entrepreneur Training, we will be nurturing and supporting the visionary clinical leaders of the future.”

Welcoming the programme, Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, National Medical Director, said: “Integrated Clinical Entrepreneur Training embraces  the fact that innovative, modern healthcare requires entrepreneurial spirit so that specialist clinicians can use their expert knowledge and skills  to the greatest effect by bringing their innovative ideas to life and making sure they can be adopted across the NHS and all over the world.”

4 comments

  1. Dr Ashraf Ali says:

    I completely agree that integrated clinical entrepreneur training is the future of health care system.

  2. Sian Shaw says:

    I entirely agree that we should nurture innovative doctors – but what about supporting innovation for other health professionals? Nurses are the single largest group employed by the NHS and their potential for creating innovation as the worker bees at the coal face is too frequently overlooked.

  3. Antonia Gabites says:

    I wonder why this is only open to doctors. Other clinicians are as equally well placed to offer and implement new and innovative patient pathways, across care “borders” as our medical colleagues – dare I say even better placed?

    • Ali says:

      The pilot is doctors but as the article states: “Over the coming years, both the fellowship and the core training scheme will be rolled out to nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, to harness the knowledge, skills and experience of all England’s clinicians”