11.09.20
Grant funding awarded for unique Nurse Innovation Fellow position
Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust has been awarded a grant from the Burdett Trust for Nursing to fund a unique Nursing Innovation Fellow position.
A first role of its kind, the new Nursing Innovation Fellow role has been created to specifically spearhead nurse, midwife and allied health professional-led projects as part of the trust’s CW Innovation programme, making a significant difference to patient care at the trust’s hospitals and clinics.
CW Innovation, led jointly by Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS FT and their official charity CW+, looks to identify and deliver new high-impact innovation initiatives and improvements to support the trust’s goal of delivering operational excellence, exceptional patient care and experience in a world-class clinical environment.
The new Nursing Innovation Fellow will work closely with the trust’s senior nursing team and the CW Innovation team, while building a cohort of outstanding clinical innovators and initiatives.
Since launching last year, the CW Innovation programme has already developed its relationships with some 70 companies and organisations.
CW+ CEO Chris Chaney said: ““This generous support and unique partnership will enable a step change in new initiatives led by nurses, midwives and allied health professionals at our hospitals.
“CW Innovation has made a marked difference to our hospitals in the year since its inception, with many innovations fast-tracked during the Covid-19 pandemic and now routinely in use.
“Working with a core innovation group, we are proud to have developed and delivered a diverse portfolio of staff-led programmes; this new partnership now enables us to enhance the reach and impact of this approach by creating and accelerating specific nurse-led innovations.”
Nurse-led innovation projects already play an important role at the trust, with a recent oral care project designed to prevent pneumonia in stroke patients, led by two nurses on the stroke ward at West Middlesex University Hospital, recently receiving national attention and being rolled out for use across other hospital wards.
Trustee at the Burdett Trust for Nursing, Dame Christine Beasley, added: “Since 2002 we have specifically targeted our grants at projects that are nurse-led, and that enable nurses to make significant improvements to the patient care environment.
“When we looked at CW Innovation, its philosophy and aims were an excellent match with our own to form this partnership. With nurses, midwives and allied health professionals making up the majority of the healthcare workforce, we were delighted that the Nursing Innovation Fellow will have the opportunity to make a difference by creating and leading innovative projects at a prestigious hospital trust.”
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS FT are set to soon publish details inviting people to apply for the Nursing Innovation Fellow position.