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Introducing the Objectivity Healthcare Advisory Board (HAB)

Business

Apr 26, 2023 - 6 minute read

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Clare Gardner Healthcare Insights & Strategy Manager

Clare is Healthcare Insights & Strategy Manager at Objectivity. Having worked for the NHS in stakeholder engagement and project management as well as market development for several digital therapeutic and med tech companies, Clare has over 15 years of experience working on healthcare innovation and digital enablement strategies. She is passionate about increasing collaboration at the thought leader level to utilise digital technology to tackle health inequalities and improve access to care.

See all Clare's posts

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At Objectivity, our Healthcare Division is geared towards the Quadruple Aim of Healthcare framework, which aligns our project and delivery approach to improving health outcomes, patient experience, and staff experience whilst lowering overall cost and improving value in the projects we deliver.

We are especially proud of the close relationships and knowledge exchange we enjoy with our partners, clients, and colleagues in the sector. A critical enabler in validating and delivering our Quadruple Aim is our collaboration with a broad cross-section of customers, thought leaders, and experts across health and social care.

Experience Exchange and Strategic Thinking

In 2021, building on this dynamic network, we decided to create a more structured collaboration framework, so that our partners, clients, and colleagues in the sector can benefit from each other’s experience and knowledge. After consulting our stakeholder community, we decided that the best way to achieve this was to establish a Healthcare Advisory Board (HAB).

The primary objective of the HAB is to broaden knowledge exchange between members. In this time of post-Covid remote working, bringing challenges and ideas together, face to face, improves transparency and allows the ‘sum’ of the benefit to be greater than working bilaterally. For the Objectivity team specifically, it means we can make more informed, externally validated decisions on how we deliver the right technology to solve some of the most pressing challenges in healthcare.

The first HAB meeting took place in October 2021, and we continue to meet quarterly, varying the location of our meetings across the UK. We are often hosted by our partners/clients, so we can all learn more about each other’s organisations. The HAB operates under the ‘Chatham House’ rule, meaning everyone can speak freely about issues and ideas, with the benefit being shared within a circle of trust and confidentiality.

Cooperation for Improved Outcomes

There are 10 people on the HAB and whilst not every member attends every consecutive meeting, we also invite special guests to discuss or present particular topics of interest. Our HAB membership is, deliberately, broadly representative of the sector and includes clinicians, commercial leaders, patient representatives, innovation leaders, NHS, the private sector and academia. We typically discuss a ‘theme’ for each quarter and ensure a good blend of ‘here and now’ tactical discussions as well as more ‘what’s coming next’ strategic horizon scanning.   

According to Hanif Wazir, Specialist Board Advisor and Healthcare Sector Commentator: 

“The health and care sector is constantly evolving through innovation in clinical practice, better use of technology, and structural change, with the development of integrated care systems.

There are ongoing and often competing pressures in seeking to address significant challenges facing the sector in achieving high-quality care that is also equitable and efficient.

To do this effectively requires a collaborative approach between industry and healthcare providers. The Objectivity Healthcare Advisory Board forum is a great example of how collective discussion with critical thinkers from different parts of the whole system can accelerate change.”

The chair of the HAB is Andrew Smith, Healthcare Services Director at Objectivity. His ambition is to facilitate impactful, ongoing dialogue between members that provides value for everyone involved. Andrew is keen that the HAB is more than a Board — it should rather be an ecosystem of passionate and informed people who feel confident to work together and to make a positive change.

“The HAB has been a tremendous success, and I am proud of how much it has grown over time. We have ten members on our panel and, by using a round-table approach and meeting in person, we can forge connections and a ‘circle of trust’ — to learn from each other and grow our collective knowledge. It’s been inspiring to see how the HAB has often set off a positive chain of events that might otherwise not have happened, where participants have taken a challenge or idea beyond the meeting and worked together to develop it into a practical application that delivers the Quadruple Aim of Healthcare.”

Since its foundation, the HAB has been guiding us with their insights on our technology projects and development strategy in a wide range of areas, from patient self-monitoring to digital interoperability in healthcare and personalisation. The diversity and breadth of experience across the HAB members bring a multi-faceted, real-world perspective to our direction and strategy.

Besides the quarterly in-person meetings, the HAB development team at Objectivity maintains an ongoing dialogue with members to sustain the momentum of ideas, engagement, and actions that are founded on the collective goal to provide the best possible experience and outcomes for patients, care teams, and whole health populations.

Donal Collins, another HAB member:

“Over my career, which includes 30 years as a GP, I have held several clinical positions, both patient-facing and in strategic leadership, in the NHS and private sectors. What has always driven me as an individual is my ambition to do what’s right for the Patient. What is refreshing about Objectivity is that they are a values-driven company and, having had the pleasure of participating in their Healthcare Advisory Board since 2021, I have been pleased to see how Andrew and the team genuinely create a balanced representation of thought leadership between clinical, commercial, and innovation — from healthcare providers within the NHS, social care, and industry. Having no ‘prescriptive’ agenda enables an open environment where we can freely share, discuss, and evolve ideas proactively in response to emerging challenges and topics that are relevant to everyone in the group.”

The Members of the HAB

Objectivity’s Healthcare Advisory Board consists of experts and senior leaders from the health and care sector, including:

Dr Donal Collins
GP and Director of Barlow Collins, Advisor to Hampshire Hospital Trust, Gosport, and Fareham Academy School, and a member of the NAPC clinical faculty

Robyn Davies
Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health, a Fellow of the CIPD, and a visiting professor at the University of South Wales.

Claire Liddy
Managing Director of Innovation at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital

Paul Midgley
Director, NHS Insights at Wilmington Healthcare

Scott Watson
Director of Greater Manchester (GM) Interoperability at Salford Royal Agency

Hanif Wazir
Specialist Board Advisor and Healthcare Sector Commentator

Dr Pramod Prabhakaran
Consultant Psychiatrist, Honorary Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London, and module lead for market access at the National Institute of Health Research London IVD Cooperative

Siôn Charles  

Head of Strategy & Service Planning at ARCH – Hywel Dda, Swansea Bay, and Swansea University Regional Collaboration 

Catherine Davies 

Managing Partner at Monticle Ltd, Chair of Digital Healthcare Council and Trustee at Reform Think Tank 

The HAB Meetings Timeline to Date

Objectivity London Office, March 2023

Most recently, the HAB met in London to discuss the topic of remote patient monitoring — we heard about the significant benefits being measured by the ‘Little Hearts at Home’ programme as well as other developments in this area. The agenda included a presentation on challenges around the adoption of remote monitoring, followed by a group discussion of the topic. The HAB also discussed a strategic vision for their activities in the coming years.

University of Glasgow, September 2022

The HAB met in Glasgow, where Dr John Gordon gave a tour of the University of Glasgow Campus. The Board members then visited the Imaging Centre of Excellence (ICE) and the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. The regular HAB meeting that took place afterwards included a very interesting session with Professor Sandosh Padmanabhan and Dr Ruth McLaughlin. The discussed topics included precision medicine, the University of Glasgow's ambitions to deliver innovation through their Living Laboratory, and the personalisation of care and sensing and IoT applications in healthcare.

Alder Hey Innovation Centre, Liverpool, May 2022

In May 2022, the HAB was invited to Liverpool, where Claire Liddy and the Alder Hey team organised a tour of Alder Hey’s Children’s Hospital and their Innovation Hub. The participants were introduced to a place where clinicians, industries, and higher education institutions come together to create products and technologies that will positively impact children.  

The HAB members also saw a presentation of Alder Hey’s ‘Little Hearts at Home' programme (which has been featured in the news) and discussed the feedback Objectivity received on their “Technology and Healthcare” NHS Survey.  

Objectivity London Office, London, February 2022.

This meeting hosted a roundtable discussion on members’ priorities for 2022 and the themes and challenges that would be prominent throughout the year. As part of their focus for 2022 and beyond, Objectivity’s representatives introduced the topic of blockchain, which was discussed later, together with the HAB’s planned next steps.

Foundation meeting, Objectivity London Office, October 2021

The HAB met for the first time in October 2021 in London. The members were then introduced to the wider Objectivity team, the Healthcare Division, and its strategy. The discussion that followed was focused on healthcare technology trends and innovation as well as agreeing on how to develop agendas and areas of focus for future meetings.

2988 HC Digital Transformation 476X381
Clare Gardner Healthcare Insights & Strategy Manager

Clare is Healthcare Insights & Strategy Manager at Objectivity. Having worked for the NHS in stakeholder engagement and project management as well as market development for several digital therapeutic and med tech companies, Clare has over 15 years of experience working on healthcare innovation and digital enablement strategies. She is passionate about increasing collaboration at the thought leader level to utilise digital technology to tackle health inequalities and improve access to care.

See all Clare's posts

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