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The first open discussion of the 'Bristol Health Collaborative' on 9 September saw 50 health and care professionals, academics and members of the public meet to discuss the challenges the health and care system faces that could be solved by technology or innovation. A second session followed, attended by around 40 technologists, innovators and others with an interest in these fields. The event was hosted by Bristol Health Partners in conjunction with technology and collaboration experts.

The event brought these diverse groups together to help pin down the challenges that will be explored further at a collaborative event over the weekend of 15-16 November 2014 - part of a broader Bristol Season of Health taking place during the autumn.

The open discussion formed part of a consultation process that also included:

• Reviewing the priorities of the health and care organisations in the Bristol City Region (PDF)
• Reviewing the priorities of Bristol Health Partners Health Integration Teams
• Polling members of the Health Integration Teams (HIT) at the Bristol Health Partners HIT conference (xls)

The challenges and themes that emerged from the discussion and other exercises are:

• Using mapping creatively, for example to support 'social prescribing'
• Improving access to research and evidence at the right time for clinicians
• Peer support for patients
• Communication between professionals and teams
• Access to data and patient information, both for professionals and the patients themselves

These ideas will be further finessed over the coming weeks, leading up to the collaborative weekend in November. We hope that this weekend event will involve service providers, service users, designers, developers and artists.

Please email us if you would like to get involved or want to know more.