Introduction
Our health and care system has undergone a dramatic and rapid transformation since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in early 2020 . The healthcare sector responded at pace , with some services being transformed more in the last 12 months than in the last decade . At the Yorkshire & Humber Academic Health Science Network ( AHSN ), we quickly refocused our activity to support the NHS response to COVID-19 , at a national , regional and local level .
This 2020-21 Impact Report provides an overview of how , through our ability to be agile and flexible , we were able to realign our work and resources and adapt our offer so that we could contribute to , support and in some instances , lead activity as part of the pandemic response .
During the first wave of COVID-19 , we designed and implemented a rapid insights programme to quickly identify and evaluate the innovative pathway transformations which were being implemented as a response to the pandemic . Working closely with our colleagues and partners across the North East and Yorkshire we considered the evidence that emerged from more than 470 contributors from every part of the healthcare system .
This rapid response work allowed us to provide real-time feedback to our health system partners on the innovations that were having a positive benefit upon patients and supported their response to the pandemic . What we learned from this work went on to form the basis for a series of recommendations which will help the health and care system identify changes and innovations that will continue to be of benefit in the future and should be retained .
We published our Rapid Insights reports in which we highlighted how the pandemic has shown us that greater devolved leadership ; effective collaboration with all stakeholders to develop solutions ; a mindset shift for patients and clinicians who have now experienced a new way of delivering care ; and an understanding of the local , societal
2 Transforming Lives Through Innovation