The annual National Meeting of the NIHR Coloractal Therapies in Leeds was a milestone event for the HTC who will now be expanding and re-branding it remit after its recent successful award for MIC funding.
The theme of the day was “Jugaad Innovation” which can best be summarised as “make the most with what you’ve got”. Actually surgeons have been applying this principle in one manner or another for years, but maybe the aging populations and health care challenges will be putting extra pressure on the concept (a bit ironically, the setting of the day was the resplendent Leeds Town Hall, one of the most elaborate conference halls I’ve ever at in, but I suspect as a public building it was quite cost effective). To put resource constraints into perspective, the speakers highlighted a number of innovations from the developing areas of Africa and Asia where resources constraints are fundamental.
The day split into roughly three parts:
- Keynotes – The highlight was Professor Tony Young, National Clinical Lead for Innovation NHS England, who set the scene laying out a number of critical trends challenging conventional approaches.
- Frugal Innovation – An overview of the Jugaad concept as well as several illustrative case study examples (handy Venn diagram below)
- Breakouts – The afternoon extended the interaction and networking started at lunch with a more formal set of themed breakouts (unfortunately, the Imaging group had to be cancelled as the facilitator had a last minute conflict).
