These projects were established following a keynote speech made in April 2001 by the then Secretary of State for Health, Alan Milburn, setting out a vision for developing genetics capacity in the NHS to meet future need.
He announced a range of commitments to increase numbers of specialist staff and provide new laboratory equipment. He also announced support for small innovative projects which would help to prepare the broader NHS for future developments in genetics.
Bids were invited through specialised commissioners of genetics services and projects were selected according to criteria which included innovation, practicality, deliverability and benefit to patients, risk management and value for money. Successful bids also had to include an evaluative element to assess whether the aims were achieved, summarise the lessons learned and allow dissemination of the results to the NHS.
The Department of Health (DH) held a learning event on 20th October 2004 to share experiences and good practice learned from the service development pilot projects undertaken in 2002-03.
The event brought together a number of innovative projects in genetics healthcare to share their experiences and lessons learned with each other and with colleagues from new DH funded service developments projects in genetics. It was also an opportunity to acknowledge their hard work and celebrate their many achievements.
Information about each project and presentations from the event are available below.
Last updated: 13 October 2011
