Secondary Care

Chelsea and Westminster NHS FT launches first Nursing Innovation Fellow position

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS FT has launched its first Nursing Innovation Fellow position, with support from Burdett Trust for Nursing and its official charity CW+.

The trust said the role will encourage nurse-led innovations and will support an entrepreneurial nurse, midwife or allied health professional to lead on the latest cutting-edge programmes to transform patients’ lives.

Chris Chaney, CEO, CW+, 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.”

The Burdett Trust for Nursing Trustee Dame Christine Beasley, said: “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.”

The position was announced earlier this month, alongside an annual competition held by CW+. In a Dragons’ Den style competition, Hand Therapy: The Exercise Prescription app was announced as the winner in an awards ceremony hosted virtually by CW+.