Best practice not being sufficiently replicated

'Efficient productivity through innovation' was the theme of the first ever Hospital Innovations conference and exhibition at Olympia, London in late April. At the two-day event--supported by organisations including IHEEM, the Legionella Control Association, the Water Management Society, the BRE, and a sizeable number of English NHS Trusts--the Day Two keynote address by Lord Carter very much reflected this theme. Following his address at Healthcare Estates 2015, the Labour Peer focused further in London on his team's recent review of the 'productivity and efficiency' of English NHS Trusts, and explained how the initiative would progress in coming months. One of his key conclusions was that while the NHS consistently rates as one of the world's most efficient public health systems, innovation and good practice are rarely sufficiently shared or widely replicated service-wide, resulting in a considerable 'gap' between the best and worst-performing Trusts. HEJ editor, Jonathan Baillie, reports.