The CW Innovation programme, led by Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and its charity CW+, has been launched in a bid to improve patient care and address real-time challenges that healthcare organisations face.
The launch marks a new phase in the Trust’s commitment to design, attract, embed and evaluate new initiatives and technologies to transform operational efficiency and, critically, patient care and patient experience.
Lesley Watts, chief executive of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “CW Innovation is designed to connect the frontline clinical and operational staff and partner organisations, both in and outside of the NHS. We strongly believe it will lead to improvements in the care we provide to our patients and the way we run our hospitals. With over 70 projects in our pipeline, an increasing number of external partners and a growing innovation team, we are excited to officially launch CW Innovation today.
“We are a Global Digital Exemplar, a founding partner of DigitalHealth.London Accelerator and run nationally recognised, award winning services. We are well placed to respond to the increasing demand to discover, test and adopt innovative, scalable solutions that support the delivery of better patient-centred, more responsive and cost-effective care. CW Innovation is a unique programme that we believe can make a real difference to patient care in our Trust and across the NHS.”
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and CW+ have been developing a pipeline of ‘test and scale’ innovation projects to be rolled out across the Trust and disseminated throughout the NHS stakeholder network. Examples include the UK’s largest study of wearable monitoring technology, the UK’s first cancer clinic of its kind fast tracking patients with clinical suspicions of cancer, and the Mum & Baby app that’s now being rolled out across the North West London catchment and to other national NHS maternity centres.
Lord O’Shaughnessy, who served as parliamentary under secretary of state in the Department of Health and Social Care between 2016 and 2018, also spoke at the launch of CW Innovation, and believes the Trust is emerging as a leader in healthcare innovation.
He said: “Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has a proven track record as an early-adopter and designer of next-generation services and care tools. By evaluating the real-world experience and by putting the patients first, they have been able to roll out initiatives - such as the award-winning Mum & Baby app and the Patchwork software system to enhance the management of temporary staffing - across NHS services so more patients and organisations can benefit.”
