Health Innovation West Midlands (HIWM) welcomes new appointments

Health Innovation West Midlands unveils new management board and updated mission to drive forward new NHS objectives

Health Innovation West Midlands (HIWM) has welcomed a number of new appointments to its Management Board to spearhead its mission to advance transformational health innovations within the region.

The 15-member strong board, brings diverse expertise to support the organisation’s continued commitment to deliver evidence-based innovations and treatments and improvement of NHS productivity, reduce waiting times, and improve the West Midlands’ overall health and wealth.

Outlining four strategic priority areas, HIWM’s Management Board seeks to address the needs of the patients and communities it serves and support NHS England’s broader goals of improving healthcare through innovation by:

• Delivering evidence-based interventions to improve health and wealth
• Delivery at pace and scale
• Supporting the workforce of the future
• Leading through convening

The newly created Management Board welcomes the appointment of:

• Dr David Aldulaimi, Clinical Director for South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust
• Dr Paul Edmonson-Jones, Chief Medical Officer for Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board
• Dr Ananta Dave, Chief Medical Officer for Black Country Integrated Care Board
• Kavita Parmar, Chief Commercial Officer and Co-Owner of Word360
• Joanne Williams, Interim Chief Executive Officer of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust

Alongside the Management Board changes, HIWM has also welcomed Dr David Aldulaimi as Clinical Director. David outlines his aspirations for HIWM: “My role as Clinical Director will involve supporting HIWMs values, encouraging collaboration, and delivering HIWM’s strategic objectives.

“Through this work I aspire to support wider colleagues and have a positive impact on the health and wealth of our region.”

The changes follow the recent publication of HIWM’s 2023-24 Impact Report, which outlines its new mission and vision for the future and highlights key achievements and contributions to the local healthcare sector, patients, and staff over the past year.

Key highlights include:

• Heart Failure Programme: Nearly a million people in the UK are affected by heart failure, accounting for 5% of emergency admissions and one million hospital bed days annually. The programme has led to 46% of the region’s primary care networks adopting the enhanced heart failure care plan, aimed at reducing hospital admissions and supporting NHS efforts to free up capacity in the system.

• ADHD Programme: Affecting 5% of school-aged children, ADHD diagnosis currently takes around 18 months and costs the NHS £23 billion annually. In response, the West Midlands ADHD project introduced the QbTest, providing diagnostic insights in just 15 minutes, saving time and resources while improving access to formal diagnosis.

Chair of Health Innovation West Midlands, Professor Michael Sheppard, explains: “Our mission remains focused on developing innovations that address local needs, accelerating the adoption of proven solutions to help people live healthier, longer lives.

Our 2023-24 Impact Report highlights our contributions, and with a refreshed Management Board, renewed mission, and updated NHS targets, we look forward to the future impact HIWM will achieve.”

To learn more about our renewed mission and vision, and discover more about our projects between 2023-24, download our Impact Report.