Research, innovation and evaluation strategy 

Summary

This is the first research and innovation strategy for Hertfordshire and West Essex (HWE) ICS. It has been developed through a series of collaborative events. We anticipate the initial strategy will be subject to ongoing review to make sure it is responsive to the needs of our residents and workforce. In this context we view research as the process to generate new knowledge which can be translated into better outcomes for all residents. 

Guiding principles

1. Embed the benefits of research, innovation and evaluation to better meet the needs of the health and social care system and enable the delivery of the HWE ICS five year forward plan. 

2. Ensure that research, evidence, innovation and evaluation underpins the way we enhance, transform or devise services using a well governed approach to manage risk, ensure patient safety and public confidence.  

3. Ensure that the voice of all our residents inform all we do, promoting inclusion, and represent good value for our taxpayers. 

4. Make the HWE ICS a national exemplar for the use of research, innovation and evaluation to meet the needs of our residents and workforce and deliver the integrated care strategy to improve population health outcomes. 

5. Achieve financial sustainability by 31 March 2026. 

We aim to: 

• involve residents, patients and those with seldom heard voices in determining our priorities, playing an active part in research design, delivery and dissemination. This will make our research inclusive and representative of those we serve
• increase the quality, quantity, breadth and relevance of research and innovation undertaken locally
• co-ordinate and develop researcher and research activities and our multi-disciplinary workforce across all settings
• improve the quality of health, care and outcomes for all through the evidence generated by research and a culture that supports innovation
• identify local research priorities and needs and work collaboratively to address these 
• extend and expand our collective research portfolio in settings such as primary care, community care, mental health and learning disability, services, public health, social care and where appropriate other settings
• drive the use of research evidence, adoption of innovation and use of evaluation for quality improvement and evidence-based practice. Identify and address gaps in the evidence base that are applicable to our population health needs
• influence the national research agenda to better meet local priorities and needs 
• improve co-ordination and standardisation within and between system partners for the set up and delivery of research. This will involve standardisation of approaches to manage risk, ensure quality (clinical and research governance) and gain the benefits of system-wide working
• harness the patient and economic benefits of commercial contract research. 

Initial two-year plan from 1 April 2024

1. Embed HWE ICB Governance with terms of reference to enable discharge of legal duties, escalation and risk management. 

2. Create the HWE ICS Research and Innovation hub to co-ordinate and deliver activities.  

3. Develop and implement a cohesive research strategy to deliver research at the highest possible level in response to identified ICS priorities. 

4. Enhance our collective research portfolio to support strategic objectives, sustainability (both financial and environmental) and a quality service to meet the research needs of key collaborators and stakeholders, especially public health. 

5. Actively support and develop our existing research workforce, develop research capabilities where none currently exist and further expand research into non-NHS setting. 

6. Achieve financial sustainability by accessing national funding streams and external opportunities. 

7. Ensure effective communication to our partners and all residents making research and innovation accessible and relevant, with the aim of achieving engagement with underserved communities and those with seldom heard voices.  

8. Promote innovation, initially using a readiness assessment of our organisations, to improve patient experience and help improve outcomes. 

9. Act on best practice recommendations to address specific inclusion barriers to participating in research. This will build on our research engagement network development. 

10. Develop success indicators to measure progress, deliver transparent governance, and demonstrate contribution our five-year forward plan. 

The HWE exists to improve the health and wellbeing of our residents

The HWE ICS plans and delivers health and social care services to just over 1.6 million people living in Hertfordshire and west Essex. The system brings together a wide range of organisations, committed to a shared vision of working together to improve the health and wellbeing of the people who live in our area.   

Our ambition is to improve our population’s health by focusing on the following priorities: give every child the best start in life, support our communities and places to be healthy and sustainable, support our residents to maintain healthy lifestyles, enable our residents to age well and support people living with dementia, improve support to people and families living with life-long conditions, long term health conditions and physical disabilities, and improve our residents’ mental health and outcomes for those with learning disabilities and autism.  

Research and innovation helps us transform our services to benefit our residents

There is a vibrant research and development ecosystem, with well-developed research infrastructure and research expertise within our health and care workforce.

The value of research in transforming health and care is significant; staff satisfaction, recruitment and retention is higher among staff who are involved in research and in research active organisations. 

We have a legal duty to support and use research

The Health and Care Act 2022 (the 2022 Act) sets new legal duties on ICBs around the facilitation and promotion of research in matters relevant to the health service, and the use in the health service of evidence obtained from research.

NHS England will assess ICBs for their discharge of these duties. The ICS design framework sets the expectation that in arranging provision of health services, ICBs will facilitate their partners in the health and care system to work together, combining expertise and resources to foster and deploy research and innovations.  

To reach our potential we need to develop new roles, new ways of working and new funding sources

HWE ICS has the ambition to become a national exemplar for the generation and use of research and innovation to enhance or redesign services to better meet our local priorities in a more inclusive way.  There is a gap between the current situation and where we want to be to fully deliver the NHS England expectation. New roles and new ways of working are needed to bridge the gap. 

Playing our part to deliverSaving and Improving Lives: The Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery 

Governance and decision-making arrangements

The ICB Medical Director is the Executive with overall responsibility for research and innovation. The ICB’s responsibilities for research and innovation are met through the ICB Research and Innovation Senior Leadership team. The ICB Board has oversight of research and innovation via the Population Outcome and Improvement Committee (POIC), subject to awaiting changes to committee structure. 

The Research, Innovation and Evaluation Strategy and its implementation is a core enabling strategy withing the ICB and underpins the delivery of the five year Forward Plan. 

The implementation of this strategy will be supported by the HWE ICS Research and Innovation Strategy Group. The membership of this group is inclusive and representative of the system partners.