About Us

Working together to improve health and social care. We support health and social care innovation across the West of Scotland and address key challenges to improve health, social care and service delivery.

What we do

We co-design, co-develop and co-deliver health and social care innovation in the West of Scotland.
We provide end to end support, from conception to procurement.
We support innovation that addresses key challenges to improve health, social care and service delivery.

Who we work with

We work with clinical and social care teams, academics, industry, the third sector and funding bodies.
We work with and are part of the six NHS Boards and fourteen Health and Social Care Partnerships that cover the West of Scotland.
We are hosted by NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, one of the largest NHS organisations in the UK.
We work with the other NHS Scotland test beds: Health Innovation South East Scotland and NHS Grampian Innovation Hub.
Our Partners include: Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office, InnoScot Health Limited and the Digital Health and Care Innovation Centre.

We provide access to NHS test bed infrastructure

Clinical research facility, CTU and Research Pharmacy.
Medical Device Unit.
eHealth system, data integration and Safe Haven research data.
Healthcare delivery environments.
Biorepository and pathology.
Diagnostics and research imaging.
All supported by contractual, ethical and regulatory frameworks.

We have a strong track record

Deliver many projects with many innovators every year.
Support successful innovation funding bids, from Small Business Research Initiatives (SBRIs) to multi-million-pound projects.
Have scaled-up innovation solutions to regional and national adoption
Deliver and support award-winning innovation projects including:
- Knowledge Exchange Awards 2023 - Multiparty Collaboration Award - iCAIRD and partners
- Chief Health Science Officer Awards 2023 - Improvement in Action Award - iCAIRD Pathology Digitisation & AI
- Scottish Digital Health and Care Awards 2022 - Industry Collaboration Award - Dynamic AI
- Scottish Digital Health and Care Awards 2022 - Data Driven Innovation Award - iCAIRD Pathology Digitisation & AI
- HSJ Awards 2021 - Digitising Patient Services Initiative Digital - Dermatology Assessment
- Scottish Digital Health and Care Awards 2021 - COVID-19 Response Award - vCreate
- Scottish Digital Health and Care Awards 2021 - Technology Enabled Independent Living Award - Dynamic Scot
- Scottish Life Sciences Awards 2021 - Innovative Collaboration Award - iCAIRD
- The Scottish Health Awards 2020 - Innovation Award - vCreate
Media coverage such as with vCreate secure video service on BBC Breakfast TV and STV News.
See our Exemplar Projects and Latest Update sections for further examples.

Meet the Team

Core Team

Craig Bell

Industry Collaboration Project Manager (R&I)

Craig Bell

Industry Collaboration Project Manager (R&I)

David Coyle

Communications Lead

David Coyle

Communications Lead

Dr Ana Talbot

Innovation Clinical Fellow (Frailty and Falls)

Dr Ana Talbot

Innovation Clinical Fellow (Frailty and Falls)

Dr Chris Sainsbury

Innovation Clinical Fellow (Diabetes and Endocrinology)

Dr Chris Sainsbury

Innovation Clinical Fellow (Diabetes and Endocrinology)

Dr Kate Hulse

Innovation Clinical Fellow (ENT)

Dr Kate Hulse

Innovation Clinical Fellow (ENT)

Dr Nagore Penades

Innovation Clinical Theme Lead (Mental Health)

Dr Nagore Penades

Innovation Clinical Theme Lead (Mental Health)

Dr Neil Patel

Innovation Clinical Lead

Dr Neil Patel

Innovation Clinical Lead

Ela Fergusson

Industry Collaboration Project Manager (R&I)

Ela Fergusson

Industry Collaboration Project Manager (R&I)

Elaine O'Neill

Industry Collaboration Project Manager (R&I)

Elaine O'Neill

Industry Collaboration Project Manager (R&I)

Jacqueline Anderson

Project Manager (R&I)

Jacqueline Anderson

Project Manager (R&I)

Jagroop Dhillon

Data Manager & Service Coordinator (R&I)

Jagroop Dhillon

Data Manager & Service Coordinator (R&I)

John Costello

Innovation Solutions Architect & HDE (eHealth)

John Costello

Innovation Solutions Architect & HDE (eHealth)

Katriona Brooksbank

Innovation Lead (R&I)

Katriona Brooksbank

Innovation Lead (R&I)

Linda Conroy

Senior Innovation Administrator

Linda Conroy

Senior Innovation Administrator

Marianne Murphy

Project Manager (eHealth)

Marianne Murphy

Project Manager (eHealth)

Professor Chris Carlin

Innovation Clinical Lead

Professor Chris Carlin

Innovation Clinical Lead

Professor Ioanna Nixon

Innovation Clinical Theme Lead (Cancer)

Professor Ioanna Nixon

Innovation Clinical Theme Lead (Cancer)

Professor Steven Lo

Innovation Clinical Fellow (Plastic Surgery)

Professor Steven Lo

Innovation Clinical Fellow (Plastic Surgery)

Ray Syed

Industry Collaboration Project Manager (R&I)

Ray Syed

Industry Collaboration Project Manager (R&I)

Ruairidh Davison

Contracts Manager (R&I)

Ruairidh Davison

Contracts Manager (R&I)

Ruchi Lalwani

Project Lead (eHealth)

Ruchi Lalwani

Project Lead (eHealth)

Scott Hanley

Project Manager (eHealth)

Scott Hanley

Project Manager (eHealth)

Sophie Bagnall

Industry Collaboration Project Manager (R&I)

Sophie Bagnall

Industry Collaboration Project Manager (R&I)

West of Scotland NHS board partners and our governance

Catherine Sinclair

Head of Research (NHS Golden Jubilee)

Catherine Sinclair

Head of Research (NHS Golden Jubilee)

Denise Brown

Director of Digital Services (NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde)

Denise Brown

Director of Digital Services (NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde)

Donald Wilson

Director of Digital (NHS Lanarkshire)

Donald Wilson

Director of Digital (NHS Lanarkshire)

Dr Chris Deighan

Medical Director (NHS Lanarkshire)

Dr Chris Deighan

Medical Director (NHS Lanarkshire)

Euan Macleod

Strategic Planning and Commissioning Manager (NHS Dumfries & Galloway)

Euan Macleod

Strategic Planning and Commissioning Manager (NHS Dumfries & Galloway)

Karen Bell

Head of Research, Development & Innovation (NHS Ayrshire & Arran)

Karen Bell

Head of Research, Development & Innovation (NHS Ayrshire & Arran)

Neil Ferguson

West of Scotland Regional Planning Director

Neil Ferguson

West of Scotland Regional Planning Director

Paul Gowens

Associate Director, Research and Innovation (Scottish Ambulance Service)

Paul Gowens

Associate Director, Research and Innovation (Scottish Ambulance Service)

Prof Julie Brittenden

Research and Innovation Director (NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde)

Prof Julie Brittenden

Research and Innovation Director (NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde) “We have a team ready to support innovative ideas. We provide expertise across a range of issues that can sometimes be stumbling blocks for people trying to innovate, this includes offering support on governance, evaluation and data access. We offer the strength of the NHS through clinical engagement that other organisations aren’t able to offer. We look forward to helping more innovators help create positive change to our health and care system in Scotland.”

Susan Bishop

Head of Efficiency, Improvement and Innovation (NHS Forth Valley)

Susan Bishop

Head of Efficiency, Improvement and Innovation (NHS Forth Valley)