The idea comes from an employee of WAHT. Remember do not discuss your idea with anyone until you have spoken to the Innovation Lead in the Research & Development Department. They will put you through a 'mini dragons den' to fully understand the idea, is it novel, what makes it different, are the numbers large enough for commercial interest, patient benefit and cost savings and probably many other questions.
Once the idea has been given the green light from stage 1 you then move onto stage 2, the market search. This is vital as it will either close the project, as the idea or an alternative exists, or gives the green light to go ahead to stage 3. Stage 2 is formal confirmation of what has been given to the Innovation Lead in Stage 1, so they will search and find out what is out there, is it novel, what are the market numbers, areas of benefit and is it commercially viable. This is also the stage where you might bring in independent experts for their opinions.
In this stage we look to see if there is any Intellectual Property already in existence or something similar. Can the idea be protected, what is the novel part of the idea, are the numbers big enough to justify protection or should other forms of protection be considered. When thinking about IP protection you need to look at all the facts and make a decision around, is the idea firstly patentable, is it worth the high cost, or does it fit into one of the other categories. See section on Intellectual Property.
Stage 4 is the exciting stage where you begin to see your idea come to life through CAD drawings and first stage prototypes. It is an important stage as a working prototype is usually needed to provide evidence that the idea works and is of benefit. This stage offers the opportunity to bring back the independent experts that you might have spoken to in Stage 2, for their opinions on the prototype. This provides an extremely strong piece of evidence to present to a commercial company.
In stage 5 the business case should now be completed and ready to win over any potential commercial partners. With the business case and proof of concept a commercial partner is then sought to take the idea and diffuse it across the NHS and in healthcare globally. If successful agreements are set in place that ensure the Trust receives a royalty payment and revenue starts to flow back into the Trust to support further innovations and reward the innovator for their idea.
There are also different stages of the pathway that potential Commercial partners can get involved. Sometimes a commercial partner is sought early on in the project to help with funding or their expertise and knowledge. Collaboration is then formed and an agreement produced stating how the two parties will work together. These have been very successful and create a good working relationship for future ideas coming from within the NHS and also from the company themselves.
There are different routes to getting a concept to market. Below outlines some of the methods used to successfully commercialise products and services.Licencing: A licence is a vehicle for transferring the Intellectual Property Rights where the owner of IP retains ownership but licences another organisation to use the Intellectual Property.Spin out: A Spin out is the establishment of a separate business entity with the purpose of developing and selling a product or service.Partnering: Partnering is a form of agreement between two parties to develop and commercialise an opportunity.Direct sales: Direct sales is putting in place mechanisms to be able to sell products and services from the originating organisation.