My name is Jemma Blake, and I am a Paediatric Innovation Consultant at Alder Hey.
I have worked at Alder Hey for more than 20 years, building my career across a wide range of roles and services. I began in catering before progressing into data quality and specialising in digital systems. I later became Clinical and Cardiac Informatics Data Manager for Alder Hey and the North West Operational Delivery Network.
In that regional role, I led national outcomes reporting submissions and worked alongside senior clinical leaders to translate complex cardiac data into clear, practical insight. This supported quality improvement within our Level 1 centre and contributed to wider service evaluation, transparency and continuous improvement across paediatric cardiac care nationally.
Throughout each role, I have remained closely connected to frontline care. That experience has shaped my understanding of how operational and strategic decisions directly impact children, young people, families and clinical teams.
Moving into Innovation felt like a natural progression.
Colleagues I had worked with recognised that my knowledge of the system, strong clinical relationships and delivery experience could help turn ideas into practical, sustainable change. Now in my fourth year in Innovation, I have seen first hand how complex and how necessary that translation really is.
What Innovation Really Looks Like
Innovation can sometimes sound really exciting and shiny. In reality, it is disciplined, collaborative work that often happens behind the scenes.
Some days I am developing business cases, securing funding, navigating governance process or planning for sustainability.
Other days involve bringing clinicians, families, charities and industry partners together to shape shared ambition into something deliverable.
And occasionally, I get to play out, meeting new partners, attending national and international events, exploring emerging ideas, and connecting with innovators across sectors. I love being in these spaces, spotting potential early, building relationships, and bringing the best thinking back into children’s healthcare.
A significant part of my work sits within the Paediatric Open Innovation Zone (POIZ), where we support external companies with their innovative ideas in paediatric healthcare. I am really interested in how we build and progress paediatric healthcare as a whole. Not just individual projects, but creating a culture and infrastructure that allows children’s health innovation to thrive safely and sustainably.
Alongside my wider innovation portfolio, I programme-managed and scaled Little Hearts at Home, a home-grown collaborative monitoring platform supporting complex cardiac infants between staged surgeries.
What Guides My Work
There are three principles that shape how I approach every project:
Children and Families First
If an idea does not make care safer, clearer or more manageable for children, young people and their families, we believe we should pause and question why.
Bring the Right People in Early
Families, clinicians, digital teams, governance leads and operational colleagues all have a role in shaping sustainable change. This means bringing these people in on projects as they are the people who will actually use and benefit from the product or service.
Make Sure Good Ideas Travel
If something works, it should benefit more than one team or one postcode. More children should benefit from breakthrough and successes in paediatric healthcare.
Why Alder Hey Innovation
I have grown professionally at Alder Hey. I have seen the impact of strong collaboration across disciplines and services, and I have seen what is possible when silos are replaced with share purpose.
Through innovation, we have the opportunity to build more connected and more human care systems, designed not just around hospitals but around real life.
I am here at Alder Hey Innovation because I am still curious. I want to continue connecting people to ideas and want to carry on building bridges across systems and services. More importantly I am committed to making sure that the good ideas translate into meaningful, lasting impact for children, young people and their families.
– Jem