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CEO Change Challenge winners announced

1 June 2021CEO Change challenge

The CEO Change Challenge, our annual initiative supporting staff-led innovation, was back last week as our panel of judges saw a host of exciting new pitches from staff across Frimley Health. 

The challenge sees staff pitch their ideas to improve patient care to a panel of judges in a Dragons Den-style format in a bid to win a share of the £150,000 funding pot that will help turn great ideas into reality. 

This year we received an incredible 65 proposals, almost twice the number we had last year. 10 bids were shortlisted to pitch to the judges and we're pleased to announce the winning ideas that will all receive funding this year: 

The winners

Megan Kaliniak, community nursing team – Overall winner
Megan asked for funding for two automatic ankle-brachial pressure index (ABPI) machines. These shorten leg ulcer assessments by 30 minutes and minimise discomfort for our patients. This is a great idea that will enable us to see and treat patients sooner and help them to heal more quickly.

Gareth Dickinson, physio gym team leader
Gareth proposed using blood flow restriction training to support patients who are rehabilitating after injury or surgery. The special tourniquet system helps patients make significant strength gains despite exercising without heavy loads. By enabling them to get stronger faster, we can speed up their recovery and in turn improve their wellbeing and quality of life.

Dr Judith Gudgeon, lead for vascular anaesthesia and CPET
Dr Gudgeon pitched for two arm ergometers (arm cranks) to support our existing cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) service that helps us to assess patients for surgery. As some patients are unable to use a static bike to exercise, the arm ergometers will open up the CPET service to more patients and enable them to make more informed decisions about their healthcare.

Ahmed Ali, Beverly Hey and Simone Giona, Urology team at Heatherwood Hospital
This superb idea to purchase portable, disposable flexible cystoscopy sets will help us to better manage emergency cases in urology and save some patients an unnecessary overnight stay in hospital. It will allow Urology teams to carry out emergency procedures at the bedside, reducing the time a patient may wait for treatment and freeing up theatre time.

Isobel Hambleton, trainee healthcare scientist
The biochemistry laboratory at Wexham Park Hospital asked for funding to purchase an automated osmometer for analyses on serum and urine. The lab’s current system is not automated, nor is it designed to meet current demand. This new system will enable results to be reported much faster, speeding up diagnoses and decision-making. It will also equalise services at our acute sites – the laboratory at Frimley Park already uses an automated osometer.

Dr Anita Jayadev, respiratory consultant
Dr Jayadev put forward plans for SleepEx, a cross-site obesity pathway delivering a structured and prescribed exercise programme alongside management of sleep-disordered breathing. Supported by endocrinologists at Frimley Park and in collaboration with other healthcare partners, it will provide a bespoke service to vulnerable and hard-to-reach groups who may not engage with other public obesity initiatives. This is a brilliant idea that will help patients to live healthier lives.

Sadly, not everyone could win on the day but the Change Challenge team is continuing to explore how we can support each of the four runners up to secure the funding they need and deserve.

Runners up

Nuriah Haleem and Bethan Spicket, from the therapy teams at Farnham Hospital
This bid was for funding for two screens to challenge, motivate and engage patients using Motomed movement therapy machines on the Hale and Bourne community wards, speeding up their recovery.

Clare Watson, Physiotherapy head of service for neurology at Frimley Park
Clare proposed investing in 10 specialised clinical space armchairs split across our two acute sites. They would be used by highly dependent adult patients with complex needs who typically lack sitting balance and fatigue easily. The chairs provide good postural support and enable patients to sit out and engage with their environment more easily. They would also support patients’ rehabilitation.

Fran Tate, acute team lead physio at Frimley Park, and Nelomi, Anandagoda, chief registrar for medicine
Fran and Nelomi pitched for funding for an over-bed bike to be used by patients during dialysis sessions, helping them to maintain their strength and mobility and potentially shortening their stay in hospital.

Naffis Anjarwalla, Consultant orthopaedic surgeon
We also agreed to support Naffis in making a future bid to the Trust for surgical spinal endoscopic equipment. This would make spinal surgery less invasive for patients and should improve outcomes and recovery times. In many cases it will turn an operation requiring up to a three-night stay in hospital into a day case procedure that can be performed under sedation rather than general anaesthesia.

It was inspiring to see the thought, effort and care that went into each and every one of these bids and they will go on to make a big difference for our patients, just like some of last year’s winners. For example, the transurethral laser ablation service at Heatherwood – the overall winner in 2020 – enables our urologists to treat bladder tumours during a simple 40-minute outpatient procedure. This was a relatively inexpensive investment but it has brought invaluable benefits for our patients and our teams – we have so far treated about 130 cases, freeing up 160 hours of theatre time and saving many patients the inconvenience of being admitted overnight.