Understanding the Challenge
The West Midlands Health and Wellbeing Innovation Network (WMHWIN) at the University of Warwick, in collaboration with University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust, launched an innovation programme to address health inequalities in patient consent and understanding. This initiative aimed to co-create solutions to UHCW’s digital consent challenge using the latest technology.
The programme commenced with a Challenge Definition workshop led by WMHWIN and Dr. Penny Kechagioglou, Chief Clinical Information Officer (CCIO) for UHCW. Senior stakeholders from UHCW participated to understand in detail the current paper consent process, patient experiences, and pinpoint areas for improvement and digitisation.
It was identified that a clear understanding of procedures is crucial for patients to make informed decisions, especially when considering the majority of adults in England have a reading age of 11-14 years. Ensuring that the technology was inclusive for patients with additional needs, such as English as a second language or learning disabilities was also critical. For the organisation, enhanced language services and digital consent could reduce cancellations, waiting times for translators, and prevent loss or illegibility of documentation.
Co-Creation in Action
Using the information gathered, the WMHWIN team undertook an extensive exercise of scouting, screening, and interviewing potential innovators. This rigorous process ensured that only the most suitable candidates were shortlisted. Inducted into the programme were 5 outstanding innovators; CardMedic, Concentric, Remcare, VirtTuri, and programme partner, Eviden.
A four-day Discovery Sprint at UHCW fostered relationships between these 5 innovators and UHCW, kick-starting the co-creation process. WMHWIN ensured the collaboration was value-driven and aligned with the Trust’s goals.
“When you have a portal to come to and you have regular weekly meetings and you meet in person and you’re coming up with ideas together and you’re bouncing off each other in real time with the team is an opportunity like gold dust. We really enjoyed it.” Dr Rachael Grimaldi – CEO of CardMedic.
Prototyping and Iteration
The innovation journey continued with weekly online workshops for prototyping, testing, and iterating the solutions. These workshops, designed by WMHWIN, included contributions from a wide variety of roles at UHCW, including clinical and non-clinical members, typical users of the technology, and senior leaders. A series of focus groups with patients from the local community, including those with English as a second language, provided vital insights and shaped the solutions by feeding into the workshops. This was supported by St Francis Employability, a charity who support refugees and other members of the Coventry community to access health and employment resources.
The Solutions
Each innovator delivered a tailored solution to enhance patient understanding and shared decision-making:
- Concentric enriched its digital consent platform with illustrated diagrams and created an integration with CardMedic’s translated content.
- CardMedic an expert in accessible health communication, integrated a live interpreter-call function and subsequently secured nearly £500k in follow-on funding to continue scaling its solution.
CardMedic and Concentric built integrations between their products, allowing clinical users to save time and seamlessly move between the complimentary features on the two platforms.
- VirtTuri introduced AI-powered diverse and accessible avatars capable of delivering NHS approved information in many languages.
- Remcare developed a virtual companion that allowed users to ask questions about their procedure.
- Eviden were able to use their infrastructure expertise to draw together the other solutions to provide data analytics on their efficacy and give an organisational view of the end-to-end consent service.
These innovations can empower patients to access and understand medical information on their own terms, collectively supporting the consent experience.
Demo Day
The programme culminated in a Demo Day at UHCW, where the innovators showcased their co-created solutions. This event included a Q&A session and networking opportunities, with senior stakeholders from UHCW and the region in attendance. The Demo Day highlighted the tangible progress made and the potential for these innovations to transform patient consent processes.
A Blueprint for NHS Collaboration and Impact
“The programme has managed to bring together clinicians from the NHS, innovators and industry partners to create something spectacular, a solution that serves our challenge and our problem.” – Dr Penny Kechagioglou, Chief Clinical Information Officer – University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (UHCW).
This programme exemplifies the potential of co-creation between NHS organisations, WMHWIN, and SMEs. WMHWIN is proud to support the creation of solutions that enhance clinical processes and address systemic inequalities, making healthcare safer, smarter, and more equitable for all.
If you’d like to know more about the programme, or would like to work with the WMHWIN, please click the button below, or contact us at WMHWIN@warwick.ac.uk
This programme was supported by the West Midlands Health Technology Innovation Accelerator (WMHTIA).
