CW Innovation, led jointly by CW+ and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, identifies and delivers new high-impact innovation initiatives and improvements that support the goal of delivering operational excellence, and exceptional patient care and experience in a world-class clinical environment. Together, we look for new and innovative solutions to address the most fundamental challenges healthcare organisations face today.

The Trust is already a national leader in healthcare innovation, with a proven track record in designing and implementing new ideas, technologies, systems and services. We have been at the forefront of innovation ever since inception, with many hospital ‘firsts’ in the areas of A&E, brain tumour extraction, radiation therapy, anaesthesia and we were the first Trust to trial a smartphone linked electrocardiogram recorder to reduce stroke risk.

CW Innovation will expand on this success and will be the only programme of its kind in a UK acute hospital setting, bridging the public and commercial healthcare sectors. See some examples of our current projects below.

MUM AND BABY APP

Our free Mum and Baby app contains over 70 pages of information providing new parents with reliable, up-to-date advice about looking after their baby and themselves. Now in its third version, it has been chosen and developed for use across six hospitals in the North West London catchment area.

First created in partnership with the maternity team at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, the app has been downloaded more than 10,000 times and was recently awarded ‘Highly Commended’ in the Best Patient-Centred Healthcare App category at the 2019 Building Better Healthcare Awards. The new Mum and Baby app is available for download on both Apple and Android devices.

ACUTE DIAGNOSTIC ONCOLOGY CLINIC

The Trust’s award-winning Acute Diagnostic Oncology Clinic (ADOC) is a nurse-led fast track service for patients with a clinical suspicion of cancer. This is the first clinic of its kind in the UK.

Previously, the service did not include patients with ‘vague symptoms’, an area that The National Cancer Strategy is focusing on. We worked with the Trust to extend the clinic to include these patients, improving time-to-diagnosis, patient experience, and reducing unnecessary emergency admissions.

BURNS

Our work with the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Burns Unit includes the in-house production of bespoke face masks and splints, which are vital for facial scar healing. These masks and splints use 3D printing and other production methods, aiming to reduce costs and, critically, waiting times from 8-12 weeks to just 1 week.

Other new technologies in the Burns Unit include a VBeam Pulsed Dye Laser, a LPG Endermologie Machine and a CO2 Laser, which are all being used to reduce scarring and improve associated symptoms caused by scars.

POSTNATAL DISCHARGE SYSTEM

Together with the Trust, we launched a new, innovative digital postnatal discharge system, powered by Lumeon Technology, to improve patient experience, increase efficiency and reduce costs at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

The digital dashboards allow multi-disciplinary team members to quickly see what they need to do next, and by when, for each patient to meet their discharge slot. Staff can communicate more effectively with new mums and provide a more holistic overview relating to them and their baby in regards getting them ready for home.

CW+ is a founding partner of the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator (DH.LA). This three-year programme aims to speed up the adoption of digital health innovation in the NHS, making sure that more patients benefit from new technologies faster. Working with DH.LA, we have successfully established a number of new innovative projects at our hospitals including the Lumeon digital dashboards.

“Digital health innovations are key to the future of patient care throughout the NHS and we are delighted to be working with some fantastic companies to bring transformative innovations to our hospitals.”

Zoe Penn, Medical Director at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and CW+ Trustee