Together with its charity CW+, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s finance department has launched a call to finance technology companies, aiming to identify and adopt innovative technologies to support and improve NHS financial operations.
The Trust and CW+ have already established an extensive digital health innovation programme to support patient care, but are now looking at how innovative technologies can be integrated into other areas of the Trust. Artificial Intelligence, automation, chatbots and blockchain are just a few examples of how new technologies could potentially transform and benefit the Trust’s financial operations through reducing manual processes, improving operational efficiency and data flow.
Sandra Easton, Chief Financial Officer at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust commented: “This is an incredibly exciting initiative for us. We are proud to be a forward-thinking Trust with innovation being a key area of our work, beyond our clinical operations. We are really looking forward to working with companies to improve our financial operations but also see scope in expanding this to HR and procurement.”
Chris Chaney, Chief Executive at CW+ added:“Our innovation strategy has so far focused on improving patient outcomes, so we are delighted to be exploring this new area with the Trust. The potential impact of tapping into exciting fintech innovation in the NHS is significant, which we hope the wider healthcare sector will also benefit from.”
The Trust has recently been awarded an ‘Outstanding’ rating for ‘use of resources’ by an NHS Improvement inspection which was completed during the same period as their recent CQC inspection which rated the Trust as ‘Good’ across all five categories.
Expressions of interest from finance technology start-ups, SMEs and larger corporations are welcome. Companies with a strong London presence, an ability to integrate with existing IT systems, flexibility to address more than one financial area, and a willingness to approach collaborations in a strategic, creative and partnership-oriented way shall be prioritised. Companies have until 2 September 2018 to submit an expression of interest.
Successful companies will be invited to meet a panel at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust for further discussions.
