The document discusses innovation in public service delivery by the third sector. It defines innovation as a new idea that is implemented through a new way of thinking about a problem and leads to improved outcomes over previous approaches. The third sector is well-positioned to drive innovation due to its close connections with communities and understanding of user needs, willingness to collaborate, and ability to challenge conventional thinking. As an example, the document outlines an innovation where mental health patients can share crisis care plans with first responders to improve outcomes for people experiencing mental health crises.

1. Innovation in third sector
public service delivery
Mark Napier
The Centre for Public Innovation

2. Learning goals
1. Understand what “innovation” means.
2. Understand why the public sector needs innovation.
3. Understand the role of the third sector in innovation.

3. What is innovation?

4. Activity 1
1. What products do you think of when
you think of the word innovation?

5. Defining Innovation
“An innovation is the implementation of a
new or significantly improved product (good
or service), or process, a new marketing
method, or a new organisational method in
business practices, workplace organisation or
external relations.”
Oslo Manual, 3rd edition, OECD, 2005

6. Some useable definitions
Change that creates a new dimension of
performance.
Or
Change that outperforms previous
practice.

7. What does this mean?
Innovation is...
A new idea…
That comes from a new way of thinking or seeing a
problem…
That is put into practice as a new way of doing something…
That leads to an improvement over previous practice.

8. What innovation is not
Innovation is not:
Change for change’s sake,
novelty or invention.

9. 1. Effectiveness outcomes
2. Efficiency cost
3. Safety reduction in errors
4. Timeliness waiting times
5. Equity greater access
6. Co-ordination shared assessment
7. People-centredness ease of use
NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement
7 dimensions of performance

10. Activity 2
Thinking about your examples of innovation.
1. Are they innovations?
2. If they are, why? If they are not, why not?

11. An actual example...

12. Mental health crisis:
• Some people who have received an episode of in-patient treatment for
mental ill-health will have further “crisis” episodes whilst back in the
community
• When experiencing/about to experience a crisis, they are most likely to
come into contact with a non-mental health professional – police,
ambulance, fire and rescue
• Engagement with non-mental health services can exacerbate the crisis
• First response organisations are poorly equipped to deal with a person
suffering a mental health crisis
The problem

13. On behalf of a group of Clinical Commissioning Groups in London, CPI
explored the feasibility of setting up an online digital platform for
mental health service users – a mini “crisis care plan”:
• patient uploaded information onto a digital platform (using principle of
Patient Knows Best):
• how do I like to be referred to
• next of kin – and how to contact them
• my address
• what signs I might be exhibiting in a crisis
• what works to help me manage when I am having a crisis
• patient information (not clinical) accessible to third party organisations
– with patient consent
• gives first line response organisations information to better support
people in crisis
What we did

14. The outcomes:
• people undergoing crisis better managed – improves patient outcomes
• fewer crisis episodes escalate and require in-patient admission
• more people undergoing crisis managed in the community
• fewer people require formal admission to a place of safety (Section
136)
The impact

15. It started with a stupid question:
• “Why can’t mental health patients share their data?”
That led to a shift in mindset:
• from assuming mental health crisis has to be lead by mental health
services
• in-patient stays can be avoided by better engagement in the
community
• patients can hold and share their own data
• that everyone has a role to play in managing mental health crisis
What was the innovation?

16. Was this an innovation?
Innovation is...
A new idea…
A new way of thinking or seeing a problem…
That is put into practice…
That leads to an improvement over previous practice...?

17. Why innovate?

18. The key drivers
1. Intractable problems
2. Emerging problems
3. Client expectations
4. The new financial environment
5. The new delivery landscape
“The defining social challenges of the 21st century …
will not be solved by ‘off the shelf’ answers.”
Innovation Nation

19. What does this look like?
Intractable problems
ASB
Substance misuse
Long-term unemployment
Emerging problems
Ageing population
Climate change
Chronic health
Expectations
Convenience
Quality
Accessibility
Internet native
Delivery landscape
Funding cuts
Re-structuring public
sector
“More with less”

20. Innovation and the 3rd
sector

21. 3rd Sector
Organisation
1. What
public sector
often does
2. Service users
3. Volunteers/staff
4. Collaboration
and
partnerships
5. New
ideas,
concepts,
studies
3rd sector points of innovation
Organisation
can be
innovation
eco-system

22. • Third sector has un-paralleled links with clients, communities, service
users, patients, public, volunteers...
• Third sector understand why people do and do not use services
• Third sector has a greater appetite for collaboration and new
ways of working
• Third sector can bring an outsider’s perspective and challenge received
ideas
• Third sector can promote/lobby new ways of working or can
demonstrate new ways of working in practice – be the change they want
to seek
Innovation and the 3rd sector

23. 020 7922 7820
www.publicinnovation.org.uk
Follow us on Twitter: @cpiorg
The Centre for Public Innovation
32-36 Loman Street
London
SE1 0EH
mark.napier@publicinnovation.org.uk