Innovation Forum

A case study about the setting up of a forum at which staff could present their innovations.

Who wrote this case study?

Ben Skinner [email protected] from Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust (2016).

Who asked?

An inspired foundation year doctor full of ideas for improvements to the Trust with no way to make those ideas heard.

What did they say? 

For the hospital to set up a forum at which staff of any profession or grade could present their innovations to a panel of senior decision-makers who would select the best ideas to take forward.

What did you do?

We joined a small team working on the development of an Innovation Forum that would be able to drive forward grass-roots change based on the concept outlined above. The group, consisting of a consultant, junior doctor, pharmacist, nurse, safety manager and a representative of the Library and Knowledge Service worked on the processes that would sit behind the Forum to keep it running successfully. As part of its functioning, the Innovation Forum relies on the Library and Knowledge Service to assess applications according to evidence from external research and best practice. This evidence, or lack of evidence, is presented to the panel to support local innovations.

How did it help?

The Innovation Forum has been running for a number of years and has successfully identified and supported a wide range of projects. These have ranged from post-fall checklists, to standardised store cupboards, patient transfer projects and a handbook of acute care algorithms. Recently the Library and Knowledge Service has become heavily involved in an innovation that arose through the Forum related to the provision of selected story books to children and their parents to help in discussions of grief and loss.

April 2016