A new round of Small Business Research Initiative for Healthcare (SBRI Healthcare) competitions have been launched by the SBRI Healthcare programme team.

This competition round will focus on Reducing Pressure on Urgent and Emergency Care, selected in partnership with the Academic Heath Science Networks across England.

Split into three categories, these competition themes focus on potential areas where technology solutions can play a role and where we complement other funding initiatives that have an impact on this area, such as DALLAS and the recent SBRI Healthcare calls in areas such as falls and incontinence in the frail elderly.

In consultation with clinicians, paramedics, GPs and operations managers working in emergency admissions, we have identified three challenge themes (“categories”) where there is the potential for innovative solutions to reduce pressures on emergency services.

• The first challenge resides in primary care support and aims to reduce the number of people attending A&E in the first place.
• The second challenge looks to manage the distribution of cases arriving at A&E at any one time and so manage the flow of patients into the department.
• The third challenge looks at improving the access to the clinical decision maker and if appropriate the flow through A&E and onto the wards or for discharge. Although this challenge doesn’t reduce the flow itself, it does give a measure of the resources that are required, and therefore can be planned for.

Whilst some projects in these category areas are already underway, there is a sense that more needs to be done and integration with other systems is key. We expect applicants to learn from these projects and to address the gaps and shortfalls in their proposals.

For further information on the competition, please click here to view the briefing document

Attend this seminar to gain an understanding of:

• The clinical challenges in each of the competition themes
• The key requirements of each call
• How SBRI Healthcare  works, the application process and important deadlines

This event is free to attend but pre-registration is essential. Click here to register.

For further information please contact Claire Laing – 01275 370 798