AMBITIOUS hospital staff took part in a Dragon’s Den-style scheme to secure funding for innovative ideas to improve services for patients.

On the back of a healthy financial performance during 2018/19 and positive joint-working relationships with partners,Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) has decided to reinvest and create an innovation pot.

Around 20 ideas were successfully pitched by colleagues and teams in front of "dragons" in similar style to the hit BBC television programme.

Some of the groundbreaking proposals which will become reality include:

• A new community birth facility.

• A remodel of the existing A&E front entrance at Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan, as well as additional cubicle space.

• Allowing more patients with eye-related conditions to be seen in other parts of the borough.

• New state-of-the-art equipment and improvements within the trust's urology and maternity services.

• Introduction of new digital platforms to improve patient and staff experience.

• Additional clinical capacity at Wigan’s Thomas Linacre Centre.

• Expand the trust's day case hip replacement programme at Wrightington Hospital.

Simple criteria for the proposals to be successful were to describe the benefits to patients and staff – as well the financial return.

The trust’s deputy chief executive and director of finance and IT, Robert Forster, said: “We strongly believe that our staff have great ideas on how to improve patient care and we were looking for a fun way of harnessing that power.

“The Dragon’s Den-style event fitted the bill perfectly.

"We wanted to demonstrate our support so we’ve committed to an innovation fund – with staff at the heart – in order to support some of the best new ideas to help improve patient care or experience."

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Rob added: “We face financial challenges like all other NHS provider organisations, however, innovation in the NHS is absolutely essential and we as a trust have a history of pioneering work.

“It’s extremely vital that we build on our tradition for continuous improvement for our patients locally and being outstanding in all that we do.

"Through this initiative, the passion, care and expertise really shone through.

“We’re looking forward to revealing more details soon about each of the successful proposals.”