Precincts, people and places: forging new partnerships in health innovation

Abstract

he international symposium "Precincts, people and places -forging new partnerships" was organised by the University of Queensland (UQ) and the Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence (PACE) precinct initiative.The PACE precinct is a 1.7 hectare site adjoining the Princess Alexandra Hospital (one of Australia' s largest tertiary referral hospitals) and only 10 minutes walk from the St Lucia campus of UQ. The precinct will encompass the UQ School of Pharmacy and adjacent health-related commercial developments, the Translational Research Institute and BioPharmaceuticals Australia. The UQ School of Pharmacy will open in 2010, and other developments on the site will be phased in over the next 5 years. The location of the precinct offers an opportunity to explore innovative solutions to bioscience developments around translational research, health promotion and diseases prevention and the various forms of e-health platforms.A physical location does not, itself, ensure that those working around that precinct will interact -something else is required. While the PACE precinct offers a significant opportunity for health research innovation in that it links the universities, hospitals and medical research institutes with health industry developments, it is that "something else" we wished to debate in the "Precincts, people and places" symposium.Participants in the symposium were drawn from universities, research agencies and institutes, industry, government, and health service providers, and included architects and designers. Discussion sessions and panels were interspersed with provocations from speakers from the United States, United Kingdom and India. Transcripts of these contributions, videos of special presentations, and copies of selected presentation materials will be available on the PACE website. 1 Norman Swan, well known health journalist and commentator, moderated the symposium proceedings with energy and critical probing. Presentations from those working in health "precincts" in Australia, the UK, the US and India were interspersed with small group sessions and discussion. We are grateful for the table facilitators who helped crystallise the outcomes of the discussions.The symposium tackled the role of special precincts as productive hotspots and "living laboratories" for innovation, and examined the particular importance of precincts in the health system as a springboard and case study for discussion. Four broad challenges were identified.• How do we move beyond mere collocation to multi-party engagement and deep collaboration?• How do we better promote real innovation outcomes, and mark out a place for innovative precincts within the wider innovation system? 2 • How do we shape precincts that are "fit for purpose" in the 21st century and, in particular, how do we optimise across the physical and the virtual? What, for example, can really only be achieved by a faceto-face interaction and what can be done from a "virtual" perspective?• Within the health system, could we envisage a national effort similar in ambi...