Big Pitch launches cohort 7

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On the 22nd February the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme welcomed cohort 7 with our Big Pitch event at the Royal Institute.

The event, which was part of the Accelerated Access Collaborative NHS Innovation Showcase, was timed to coincide with the start of NHS’ 75^th birthday year, providing an opportunity to celebrate the individuals, ideas and programmes at the heart of innovation in the NHS today.

Innovations spotlighted at the event included tech to reduce elective backlogs and to free up clinical time.  AI that can predict patients likely to miss appointments, CVD detecting smartphone enabled monitoring and diagnosis, non-invasive and inexpensive early cancer detection tech and much more.

Innovations helping relieve the pressure, tackling health inequalities and providing ground breaking diagnosis and treatments and improving  patient and clinical outcomes.

The day included:

• Keynote speech from Amanda Pritchard on why innovation is more important now than ever in the 75th year of the NHS
• Over 40 stands featuring healthcare’s most promising innovators. 
• Speech from Matt Whitty, Chief Executive of the Accelerated Access Collaborative and Director of Innovation, Research and Life Sciences, NHS England visions and plans for the Accelerated Access Collaborative.
• Plenary session on how innovation is addressing some of the key challenges facing the NHS such as workforce, health inequalities and NetZero.

Following on from the day time session was the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Big Pitch, this event celebrated the successes of the past 12 months and welcomed 196 new entrepreneurs.

Hosted by entrepreneurs Gemma Poole and Pasha Normahani the Big Pitch included:

• Keynote speech by Professor Sir Stephen Powis, National Medical Director of NHS England
• Discussions with Colin Melville, Medical Director and Director of Education and Standards at the General Medical Council and Matt Whitty, Chief Executive Officer of the AAC and Jacqui Rock, Chief Commercial Officer at NHSE.
• Stakeholder panel with Prof Dame Sue Hill, Chief Scientific Officer for England, and the NHS Genomics Programme Senior Responsible Officer, Dame Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer, Prof Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, Chief Midwifery Officer and Professor of Midwifery at King’s College London and London South Bank University Prof Sarah Clarke, President of the Royal College of Physicians, David Webb, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England
• Pitching from 16 of our innovators
• Social responsibility panel session.