Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI)

SBRI is a Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) programme which provides innovative solutions to current challenges faced by the public sector.

SBRI leads to better public services and an opportunity for local enterprises to develop new products for the market.

It is a phased, competitive process with solution design and testing typically happening over a 2 or 3 phased programme.

The BSO SBRI Team work with clinicians regionally, providing project management services for all projects/ programmes.

SBRI competitions are open to all organisations that can demonstrate a route to market for their solution. The process involves various phases:

Phase 1 is intended to show the technical feasibility of the proposed concept. Also successful Phase 1 suppliers are normally required to plan their feasibility study/ research trial protocol and seek research governance and ethics approval prior to application to Phase 2.

Phase 2 is intended to develop and evaluate prototypes from the more promising technologies in Phase 1. Phase 2 has a closed tender process and is only open to companies that have completed Phase 1 successfully.

Phase 3 may be required in some SBRI projects and is designed to enable an extended field trial/ research study to robustly evaluate technology. Phase 3 is only open to organisations that have completed Phases 2 successfully and is a closed tender process.

All competitions are advertised on eTendersNI at https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps/home.do

Further information on SBRI is available from InvestNI:

https://www.investni.com/small-business-research-initiative.html

Information on SBRI from InnovateUK and UK Research and Innovation –https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sbri-the-small-business-research-initiative

Contact us for further information at :

sbri.pmo@hscni.net

rachael.mckibbin@hscni.net (Head of SBRI)

Business Services Organisation (BSO) has undertaken 11 SBRI/ PCP projects:

Current Projects:

MAGIC (Mobile Assistance for Groups & Individuals within the Community – Post stroke rehabilitation)

MAGIC is a large PCP project co-funded through the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme. The MAGIC Consortium is led and co-ordinated by Business Services Organisation with partners from across the EU. MAGIC is focused upon creating innovative technology; transforming services for patients post stroke to improve physical function and personal independence: empower patients post-stroke, optimise recovery & new cost effective solutions.

Magic completed Phase 3 at the end of March 2020. Feasibility studies were conducted within this Phase in Northern Ireland & Italy.

All 5 of the Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Trusts were equally involved.

South Eastern Trust & Belfast Trust - Corehab
Northern Trust - Camlin
Southern & Western Trusts – Tech-4-Care

For further information on MAGIC please view the website at http://magic-pcp.eu/ or on Twitter @MagicPcp

To view the latest MAGIC leaflet and poster view http://magic-pcp.eu/magic-poster-and-leaflet-2018/

Guaranteeing Prescription Continuity While People Move Between Care Providers.

The project is seeking to source new innovative technology solutions to:

Improve the medication pathway for people entering custody;
Innovate communication in the committal process through the use of real-time information sharing across stakeholder organisations – South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust (SEHSCT), Belfast Trust, Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS), Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) including Forensic Medical Service, Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS) and Youth Justice;
Enhance the person in custody’s experience and their well-being;
Support the reduction of incidents on prison landings related to delayed medication;
Work with key strategic partners to ensure safety and governance.

Phase 1 was completed successfully in November 2019 with Phase 2 planned to commence in April 2021.

DETECT

Project DETECT - Detecting Emerging Traits of psychosis in Educational and Community CohorTs. DETECT will develop technology enabled solutions addressing early identification of and intervention for the prodromal or pre-psychotic phase of schizophrenia. Phase 2 commenced on 1st September 2019 with a duration of 12 months, there has been a temporary suspension due to Covid-19 but the phase is due to restart within the next month.

CHAT

Project CHAT - Optimising Provision of Speech and Language Therapy to meet the NICE guidelines following a stroke. CHAT will radically reengineer systems & pathways of care with novel innovative technology solutions to more effectively rehabilitate patients after stoke who have identified Speech and Language Therapy needs. Phase 2 commenced on 1^st October 2020 for a duration of 18 months.

PAIN

Project PAIN seeks to provision a digital platform to support people living with persistent pain by providing information to aid self-management, to become a data source on the profile of patients living with persistent pain in Northern Ireland and to provide opportunities for further research to improve services for patients with persistent pain. Phase 2 will commence on 1st October 2020 for a duration of 12 months.

COVID19 Project

This Covid specific project is currently being scoped with Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. Phase 1 is planned to commence in mid- November 2020.

Past Projects

SPACE

This project aimed to enable the triangulation of three data sources to occur so that data analytics and data mining could for the first time in Belfast be used to improve both the health and well-being of the local population and empower citizens, through the provision of information to make better life choices and enable Public Health Physicians better manage and plan care for the residents of Belfast. The 4-month project finished at the end of March 2020 with successful presentations from all three suppliers.

MARIO

Project Mario - Meaningful Analytics in clinical Registries for Investigating Outcomes. Project Mario aimed to develop technology enabled solutions addressing the issue of real-time analytics for healthcare delivery as well as retrospective analysis and prospective modelling. Clinical source data sets include clinical records, laboratory, imaging repository, coding and prescription etc. The project finished at the end of May 2019.

HOME

Medication Management for the Elderly to Support Domiciliary Care Services.

HOME aimed to address the daily challenges associated with the management of medication in the domiciliary care setting. The competition sought technology solutions to benefit domiciliary care users and providers, help adherence, safer working practice, and management of demand in the system. The project finished at the end of February 2019.

FAST

Fast Automated Staff Deployment aimed to address the challenge of matching the needs of patients with appropriately skilled pharmacy staff in real time in a busy hospital setting. The solutions developed under this SBRI competition will help to ensure that the most appropriate members of the clinical pharmacy team can be deployed in a timely manner throughout the day, making best use of their skills and meeting the needs of the patients regarding their medicines. Two suppliers commenced Phase 2 in October 2017 which included a feasibility trial and concluded in September 2018, this project was well supported by clinicians regionally and both suppliers completed the project successfully.

Medicines Optimisation

This project aimed to address the widespread challenge of poor adherence to medication. Six companies successfully applied to design prototype solutions in Phase 1 and two companies, AppAttic and Smartair progressed to Phase 2 for product development and testing. Phase 2 was successfully completed by the two suppliers at the end of March 2017. This project led to the pharmacy projects FAST and HOME being scoped.

GEMS

Gestational, Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Empowering Mothers through Mobile Technologies. The GEMS project was seeking technology solutions that improved the health of women with gestational diabetes, enabling diabetic, pregnant women to take better control of their health, increase the effectiveness of interventions, reduce pressure on health care services, (maternity, neonatal and endocrinology services), support an on-going care programme and improve the lives, wellbeing and outcomes for maternal and infant health. The project finished at the end of March 2018.

Email: SBRI.PMO@hscni.net