What is the Innovative Solutions Portal?(ISP)
Alder Hey Innovation Centre has created an open innovation portal focused on sourcing innovative solutions to current healthcare challenges. With the current COVID 19 priorities we are collaborating with the Innovation Agency and Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership’s COVID-19 Supply Response Team (CSR Team) to provide an alternative supplies and sourcing service to the region. The portal will allow all needs from various trusts and supplier solutions to be directed, collated and assessed in one place in a consistent manner. Each submission form will go through our high-level due diligence process and, where appropriate, approved solutions will be matched with the correct needs from across the region.
What suppliers and solutions are we looking for?
On our website, https://www.alderheyinnovation.com/solutions-portal will feature a range of needs from Alder Hey and other healthcare providers and will give suppliers and companies an insight into what is currently needed and criteria for those needs.
How is the innovation portal different to procurement?
The portal is a broader open innovation initiative to identify alternative suppliers and solutions for co-creation on a wide variety of healthcare challenges. It will support the collation of alternative supply during the pandemic but is not a replacement for standard NHS supply chain. The submissions received will be triaged and either managed as an innovation co-creation opportunity by the Alder Hey innovation team or passed to CSR and procurement leads to go through the standard procurement processes.
Why are Alder Hey, Innovation Agency & CSR working together?
In the recent months, trusts nationally have seen an unprecedented flow of offers from companies and others to support the COVID 19 effort and provide alternative supply of PPE. We are working together to provide a single consistent route for those alternative suppliers and to reduce the duplication of effort across the region. We will all form a single Innovative Solutions Portal team (ISP Team) and ensure that appropriate needs and solutions can be collated in one place and as many people in the region who need our help can receive it.
Who are the Alder Hey Innovation team?
The Alder Hey Innovation team are based in our 1000 sqm dedicated Innovation Centre of Excellence, at the heart of the Alder Hey campus, solving real-world healthcare challenges with cutting-edge technology. Our wide array of partnerships with world leading academic departments, international healthcare organisations and the wider clinical innovation eco-system, has already fostered some hugely exciting and ground-breaking collaborations. We are co-creating solutions in digital and medtech innovation including artificial intelligence (AI), advanced sensors, virtual/augmented reality etc. Our team’s exceptional skills and experiences in disciplines including clinical, consultancy, business management and intellectual property, software design and prototyping is enabling us to build a healthier future for children and young people.
Who are the Innovation Agency (North West AHSN)?
Innovation agency is one of England’s 15 AHSNs who operate as the key innovation arm of the NHS. They operate locally to understand the needs of our health systems and are well placed to broker innovative solutions, while collaborating across England to take what works best and quickly spread it nationally.
Who are Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care partnership/CSR?
Cheshire & Merseyside Health and Care partnership are committed to improving the health and wellbeing of the 2.6 million population of Cheshire and Merseyside and creating a strong, safe and sustainable health and care system that is fit for the future. As part of C&M’s response to COVID-19, the partnership created a COVID-19 supply response that works across the region to collate the needs of 18 trusts.
What happens next?
When you make a submission through the ISP, you will be asked to complete an "Open Innovation Submission Form" including your contact details (essential), a non-confidential overview of your proposed solution and your agreement to the Terms and Conditions of submission and the Privacy Notice. On submitting your "Open Innovation Submission Form", you will receive an email confirming your submission has been received, and you will be provided with a unique submission identification number. yet2 will review your details and evaluate the solution on behalf of Alder Hey Innovation and partners within the portal. If criteria are met your submission will be forwarded to the ISP team for further review and validation. Assuming no additional information is required, and the idea meets ISP team needs, it will then be shared with the broader region procurement leads.
Does submitting a form mean my solution will be used?
Unfortunately, not every solution submitted through the portal will be selected. Only those that can be matched with existing needs and/or meet ISP team solution criteria will be selected. Those validated solutions will then be made available to those with the matching needs. It will be then subject to further discussion with the direct need owner to agree any further follow-on.
Is there payment for submitting my solution?
There will be no immediate payment for your initial submission of a solution through this portal. However, if Alder Hey or other trusts decide to pursue a submission, they may proceed with a mutually-agreed contract and appropriate commercial terms on a case-by-case basis. Further engagement and follow up agreements are not guaranteed but example follow-up may be in the form of a standard procurement contract or a collaboration agreement in the case of co-creation projects. Please see full terms and conditions on the portal.
Do I have to accept the Submission Portal Terms and Conditions?
Yes. These T&Cs are created to protect you and your rights and eliminates the risk of jeopardising any ongoing research programs, projects and developing concepts.
If I have more than one submission, will I have to agree to a waiver for each submission?
Yes, you will have to agree to the Terms and Conditions for each submission.
Do I have to have Intellectual Property protection? (Patents applied for or filed)
Ideally, your solution will be protected and that maybe by granted or applied-for patents. However, Alder Hey Innovation are willing to discuss early stage ideas before a patent filing has been made or before it has been published. If you have not filed for patents yet, you should not disclose any information that jeopardises your rights to file patents, and we advise you contact an IP lawyer prior to submission.
Why have I been redirected from alderheyinnovation.com to a separate third party (yet2.com) portal to submit my innovation?
The reasons are threefold. First, ISP team wants to ensure that all submitter responses are reviewed and dealt with in a consistent and timely manner. Second, ISP team understands that solutions can be provided by a variety of sources, some that may require support in describing the solution in a way that enables more clarity on how it solves a need. yet2 has significant experience working in this area and is able to facilitate the process for ensuring best chance of success. Third, ensuring only non-confidential information is received eliminates the risk of jeopardising ongoing research programs, projects and developing concepts. Alder Hey Innovation may be developing similar concepts, so sharing only non-confidential information is important for protecting Alder Hey and others future IP position as well as your own. yet2 can help act as a gatekeeper to receiving confidential information.
Who are yet2?
yet2 manages a global technology transfer marketplace and has provided open innovation services to large and small companies since 1999. yet2 supports companies’ innovation activities through technology acquisition and technology commercialisation. yet2 have a dedicated team with a wealth of experience in enabling the sharing of information and articulating technology features and benefits and how that fits to a want while maintaining confidential technology details. Since 1999, yet2 has created a global network of technology transfer partners and formed relationships with technology transfer organisations, technical expert networks, SME networks, online technical communities, technology brokers and multinational companies. Consequently, yet2 has significant experience in how companies acquire and divest technology and understands the best approaches to reviewing technology and identifying its fit to the needs of an organisation while ensuring adequate protection for each party. Furthermore, yet2 understand the nuances between large companies and smaller technology innovators and successfully manages thousands of introductions for successful partnerships each day.
Can I submit confidential information?
No, only non-confidential information may be submitted. Throughout the submission process, we ask only for information that imposes no obligations of confidentiality for Alder Hey Innovation or yet2 and does not breach any confidentiality obligations that you as the submitter owe to others. If confidential information is later required, we may negotiate a separate Confidential Disclosure Agreement prior to sharing or on receipt of any confidential information.
Do I have to be at least 18 years old to submit an innovation?
Yes: this is the legally-accepted age for agreeing to terms and conditions for this activity.
I cannot log into the My Submissions page to view the status of my submission, upload additional documentation or respond to communication, what do I do?
Please ensure that you are only using the eight-character alphanumeric reference number to log in. Do not include the # preceding it. Please also ensure that you are entering O (capital “o”) and 0 (zero) correctly. If that fails, please contact alderhey@yet2.com