Crowdicity signs new NHS deal to crowdsource ideas of frontline staff
New idea management platform in place to revolutionise the way ideas are managed throughout the Medway NHS Foundation Trust
Crowdicity, the UK’s-leading idea management software provider, has signed a new two-year deal with Medway NHS Foundation Trust to help capture and utilise the ideas of staff throughout the organisation.
As part of a bid to improve efficiency of services, the new platform uses crowdsourcing to harness the views of frontline NHS workers, providing both cost savings and enhanced healthcare provision. Open to staff throughout the entirety of Medway NHS Foundation Trust, the platform will work to promote the generation and adoption of new ideas throughout the organisation.
A month into the project, the trust’s platform, branded ‘Inspire Medway’, already has 350 users from a range of professions and departments. It has so far generated 88 new ideas on a huge range of topics from improving the patient experience to simple changes that improve day-to-day life for staff, such as a workplace choir.
Crowdicity, an organisation which has also hosted ideas platforms for the Royal College of Nursing, Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust and Dorset Health Care NHS Foundation Trust, is heralding the NHS’s willingness to listen to the ideas of its staff as an important shift in the way healthcare organisations are looking to implement and adopt a culture of change.
Nick Wright, co-founder and CPO of Crowdicity, said: “The challenges faced by the NHS have been well documented, but what is less prevalent is the ways in which they can be tackled. The Crowdicity platform is helping NHS organisations become better connected and benefit from the ideas and suggestions of people who face daily challenges on the ground.
“The ideas from our work with other NHS trusts, such as Dorset, have thrown up a raft of suggestions. These range from innovative solutions to keep patients better hydrated, the creation of a patient garden, cost saving IT improvements and a project to redesign hospital gowns, which have for a long time been seen as undignified due to their open-backed design. It’s these often simple, yet significant, ideas from within the frontline team which can really improve patient care and staff morale.”
David Hurrell, listening into action lead and cultural ambassador for change at Medway NHS Foundation Trust, added: “Like most big organisations, it’s hard to get people talking when it can be a half a mile walk from one end of the hospital to the other. It’s been amazing to see how quickly people who wouldn’t normally know or speak to each other can work together in the virtual world.”
