Helping NHS hospitals improve innovation by working with a university

What is it about?

This article is about how a hospital and a university worked together to improve how new ideas are developed and used in the NHS. They set up a small team called the Centre for Management Development and Innovation. Its role is to support staff to plan, test and learn from new ways of working. This includes helping teams be clear about what they are trying to achieve, who needs to be involved, and how to tell if something has worked. Instead of treating innovation as one-off projects, the team supports it as an ongoing part of everyday work. They also help senior leaders make better decisions by providing simple tools to assess the impact of new ideas. The article shares what has been learnt in the first 18 months, including what has worked well and what has been difficult.

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Why is it important?

Many NHS organisations are expected to innovate, but often do not have the time, support or skills to do this well. This work shows that having a dedicated team to support innovation can make it easier for staff to develop and improve new ideas. It can also help organisations focus on what really makes a difference for patients, staff and services. The approach could be used by other NHS organisations or health systems that want to make innovation a normal part of how they work, rather than something done occasionally.

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