In late September, CW+ celebrated the third anniversary of the CW Innovation programme, holding a special expo at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital.
CW Innovation is run by CW+ in conjunction with the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The programme helps test and scale high impact innovations that improve patient care and the way in which hospitals are run. Over its three years of operation, CW Innovation has developed into one of the most mature and active innovation programmes in the NHS.
The three-year anniversary expo provided a chance for NHS and industry leaders to come together with firms, partners and innovators to discuss and celebrate how innovation, partnerships and entrepreneurship all play key roles in the health service today.
In a speech opening the expo, Lesley Watts, the chief-executive of Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Successful innovation projects are as much about relationships as they are about technology, and that’s why all of our friends are here today and why events such as this are so important to us.
“It allows us to strengthen those relationships, and forge new ones against the fantastic backdrop of our CW Innovation Programme.”
Keynote speakers at the CW Innovation three-year anniversary expo included Dr Tim Ferris (the NHS national director of transformation), Professor Tony Young NHS national clinical director for innovation) and Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust chair, Matthew Swindells.
Others who delivered speeches included representatives from CW Innovation partners such as Anna King from DigitalHealth.London, Patrick Hart from Concentric Health, Brandon Henak at GE Healthcare and Professor Sultan Mahmud from BT.
The expo was comprised of four zones, which covered data and digital, entrepreneurship, patient experience and remote monitoring. Across all four, businesses in attendance showcased their incredible health innovations which ranged from the AI skin cancer assessment tool Skin Analytics through to Virtual Bodyworks, a virtual reality platform which builds on equality, diversity and inclusion training for NHS Trust staff.
CW+ chief executive, Chris Chaney, commented “This event was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the first three years of the CW Innovation programme, bringing partner groups together and showcasing our portfolio of evaluated, real-world projects.
“Innovation is about making change for good, harnessing positivity and energy even in the most challenging of times. We’re delighted at the progress our hospitals and our network of partners are making, and we remain focused on delivering new and improved methods of care for our patients and our community.”
A full list of exhibitors from the expo can be found here.
