Funding ‘coup’ will help us design better hospitals
Our Trust has landed a £126,000 government grant to help us make our two hospitals ‘better by design’ for our patients.
The funding - usually given to the private sector – is part of the Knowledge Transfer Partnerships scheme of Innovate UK, which for more than 50 years has been helping businesses collaborate with academia to promote innovation.
We will be working with our local university, Brunel University of London, in Kingston Lane, Uxbridge.
Steve Wedgwood, Trust director of operational estates and facilities, said the cash fund was a coup for our Trust. His department will lead the project, working with the university’s schools of design and business. The money will fund an academic post embedded in the Trust’s estates and facilities department to work on culture change and innovation.
Steve said: “I’d like to see my staff at all levels involved in improving services and putting forward their views and ideas. Those ideas I hope will lead to improved processes – for example, to cut waste, cut cost and improve productivity – that will generate more income for the Trust to invest in patient care and in staff satisfaction and development.”
The partnership aims to leave a legacy by bringing design know-how into hospital processes. A new hospital is planned for the Hillingdon Hospital site.
The aim of the collaboration is for patients to experience smoother services and better-designed spaces. With the Brunel experts, our teams will co-design hospital areas, equipment and services.
Dr Gabriella Spinelli, director of innovation and digital health at Brunel Partners Academic Centre for Health Science – of which our Trust is a member - and reader in innovation management at Brunel Design School, said: “We think refocusing on listening, caring for staff, patients and the environment are key to collaboration and innovation. Co-design is about involving everyone who interacts with the hospital to arrive at successful solutions.”