Evaluating emerging healthcare technologies in NHS settings
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have launched a partnership to testing emerging technologies in real NHS settings and generate evidence to support their safe adoption
The Manchester Sandbox will allow selected technologies to be deployed with patients and clinicians under controlled conditions. The programme will gather evidence on their safety and effectiveness on everyday care, helping the NHS determine which innovations should be adopted more widely.
The first technologies are expected to include AI-enabled medical devices that can identify patients at greater risk of complications from long-term conditions. Earlier identification could enable clinical teams to provide support or treatment before a patient’s condition deteriorates.
The partnership was formally launched at MFT’s Oxford Road Campus on 2 September. The event included demonstrations of wearable devices and AI-powered ambient voice technologies already being used to support patient care.
Real-world evidence
New healthcare technologies can demonstrate promising results during development but still require evidence showing how they perform in busy clinical environments. The sandbox will bring MFT clinicians together with regulators and technology developers earlier in the evaluation process.
The partners will explore regulatory approaches that consider how technologies perform throughout their lifecycle. Developers will also gain a clearer understanding of the evidence required before their products can be considered for broader NHS use.
Lawrence Tallon, Chief Executive of the MHRA, said AI and other emerging technologies had significant potential to improve patient care, but their performance in practice needed to be understood.
“Manchester brings together the NHS, innovators, researchers and regulators to do exactly that,” he said. “The learning from this programme could help shape how safe and effective technologies are introduced across the country, helping more patients benefit from innovation.”
National learning
Evidence generated through the programme will be shared across the NHS to inform decisions about the adoption of successful technologies elsewhere in the country. The work is also intended to strengthen Manchester’s position as a centre for health research and digital innovation.
MFT is one of the country’s largest NHS trusts and sits within a regional network of universities, researchers and technology companies. Its scale and clinical expertise provide an opportunity to evaluate products across varied services and patient populations.
Mark Cubbon, Chief Executive of MFT, said patients should benefit from innovation as quickly as possible without having to choose between access and safety. “This partnership brings together key partners earlier in the process so we can understand what works and how new technologies perform in real healthcare settings,” he said.
“By creating a clearer route from innovation to safe adoption, we can help people gain faster access to developments that have the potential to improve care, while maintaining the high standards of safety that patients rightly expect.”
MFT and the MHRA will hold a roundtable later this year involving healthcare providers, researchers and patient representatives to help shape future projects. The MHRA also plans to invite expressions of interest from medical-device developers seeking to participate in the next phase of the programme.
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