New UK Lab to transform healthcare using design

A new centre will bring the principles of design into the heart of a leading hospital to create a global research hub for “frugal innovation and high-impact, low-cost design”, writes The Times Higher Education.

Royal College of Art (press release) and the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London (press release), have together launched the Helix Centre for Design and Innovation in Healthcare, Europe’s first dedicated centre for healthcare design and innovation..

“Innovation in healthcare can come at a high price. In the developed world it is often characterised by costly and high tech initiatives, where ideas can take a decade to deliver from concept into a clinician’s hands. HELIX will use design to solve everyday problems in healthcare, focusing on low cost solutions which can be adopted more quickly by health systems. Everything the centre does will be firmly rooted in patient care – based out of St Mary’s Hospital its sole focus will be on design that directly improves the care that patients receive

medical equipmentThe Centre will bring together clinicians, academics, technologists and venture capitalist expertise with NHS staff to develop innovations with global application. Recognising that some of the promising technologies in healthcare are developing outside the UK, HELIX will work collaboratively with international academic and commercial partners such as Stanford University, Singapore University of Technology and Design the IDEO and TATA in India to develop ideas and create commercial opportunities for our best designs.

The Centre will use its research strengths and diverse networks to explore how design in health care can enhance patient care including meeting the needs of an ageing population, improve clinical outcomes and prevent or mitigate against disease.”