title: The role of Innovation Hubs in supporting collaborative innovation: A case study of user-led healthcare innovation.
Creators: name: Neary, Katherine
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2022

description: Innovation Hubs have become a popular vehicle for the promotion of innovation in specific settings. This thesis critically explores the development of Hubs in a healthcare setting. Empirically, the thesis presents a detailed case study of a Hub in a public sector paediatric hospital. It critically analyses how effectively Hubs enable hospitals to provide dedicated innovation space where user knowledge can direct the development of healthcare innovations. The research examines how a user-led Hub serves multiple stakeholders, as part of a collaborative innovation process. By using a case study methodology and thematic analysis, the findings provide an understanding of the relationship between the Hub and the main hospital, and the particular challenges of locating a Hub in this context. A case study approach facilitates an understanding of the roles of space, process and stakeholders in Hub development. The effectiveness of the Hub’s location in supporting stakeholders’ contributions are critically analysed. In addressing its objectives, the thesis presents a chronology of a Hub’s development, the changes to Hub management and process as operational requirements emerge. This includes an examination of how the use of Hub space changes over time, and the impact this has on supporting a collaborative innovation process. The contribution of clinicians, as representatives of healthcare user needs are analysed, highlighting areas of strength and limitation. The thesis also examines user-led demands to increase access to digital products to improve patient experience. Specifically, challenges associated with balancing stakeholder expectations during the development of digital products are explored. Stakeholder tensions regarding conflicting anticipated innovation outcomes raise questions about the place of ‘commercialisation’ within a paediatric care setting. The thesis examines the role of Hub staff, working as intermediaries, to improve and stabilise the innovation process. The findings contribute to identifying the role of Hub staff in supporting Hub development. This thesis makes a significant contribution to understanding the challenges of managing a collaborative healthcare innovation process. The analysis highlights the complexity associated with implementing an innovation process to sustain multiple stakeholder collaborations. Changes to how process is used to support concept development and efforts to become a self-sustaining facility are presented. The research finds that generic, or generalised, models of Hub development are inappropriate in a healthcare setting. This derives from the wider job responsibilities of clinicians and how their limited time and dedication to improving patient experience impacts the innovation process. Practically, healthcare innovation has a number of challenges, not least navigating differing stakeholder attitudes to risk, operational pace and preferred innovation outcomes. Overall, this thesis suggests that innovation can be achieved through the vehicle of a Hub, but this is not without its specific challenges. The thesis concludes with suggestions for future research on this crucial subject, including the development of policy to guide digital healthcare innovation and a comparison of user-led hospital hubs with distinct objectives or at differing stages of maturity.