Two entrepreneurs have grown their projects to help patients thanks to support from Newcastle Hospitals innovation team.
Jen Rose created IBD and Me, a guide for children and young people living with irritable bowel disease. The handbook helps to support patients, carers and families and can provide detailed information about their condition and potential treatment options.
Michelle Waugh (in above photo) from the Newcastle Hospitals innovation team was able to secure charity funding to run a pilot of the IBD & Me journal across the children and young people’s gastroenterology clinic.
Further support to develop a case study, highlighting the benefits for patients is progressing and the team are aiming to further support Jen in driving broader adoption of the Me & My Mind journal.
Jen also applied to the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme which aims to support clinicians, non-clinical staff and patients to bring their innovations to the NHS and develop them into projects which can be introduced to the market.
“No one has better insight into what patients need, than patients themselves. If you want to see if your idea could become something that could truly make a difference, I would highly recommend applying to be a patient entrepreneur.”
Karen Heslop is a respiratory nurse consultant at Newcastle Hospitals who has 37 years’ experience in her field, respiratory medicine. She also suffers from a lung condition herself and knows first hand the impacts and difficulties living with chronic respiratory problems have on patients lives.
With the help of patients and carers, she co-founded BreathTech – a digital, interactive self-management cognitive behavioural therapy programme – aimed to help people manage their breathlessness, to stay active, and to look after their mental health. The app has almost 5,000 downloads and is continuing to grow, helping more people every day.
Charlotte Fox from the innovation team supported BreathTech with the application process for the programme.
“The NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme felt like a natural next step – not just for me, but for the patients and services I serve. I applied because I believe the future of respiratory care must be scalable, compassionate, and data-driven, and I needed help to do that.”
The Newcastle Hospitals innovation team encourages staff to be curious and courageous with their thinking and strives to support both clinical and patient entrepreneurs with their innovative ideas. They are on hand to provide advice and guidance throughout the entire innovation pathway.
