Last week the Health Services Executive Team and I had the pleasure of visiting Alder Hey Children’s Hospital for a tour and a visit to their Innovation Hub, led by Dr Iain Hennessey and team. It was incredibly impressive and I really enjoyed spending time in another healthcare organisation, seeing and learning about how they are delivering excellence in innovation. The hospital puts patients and their families at the heart of every decision they make and actions they take, making the environment as welcoming as possible, including things like the smell and look of different areas to make the children feel comfortable. They also have no sirens when the ambulances arrive so not to distress any of the patients.
The day was organised by Wavelength in partnership with Alder Hey, Adrian Simpson from Wavelength helped facilitate a great session where we were able to share ideas around patient centricity and innovation and look for ways in which we can continue to develop the healthcare we deliver for our own patients and customers. Huge thank you to the hospital and Wavelength for an amazing day it has certainly inspired us!
Here's a short film with more detail about what to expect
Inside Alder Hey
Visit one of the UK’s most inspiring organisations, Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital to learn about excellence in innovation, customer (patient) centricity, operations and social inclusion.
About Alder Hey
For over a century, Alder Hey has been a beacon of pioneering paediatric care. Every year, staff provide care for over 330,000 children, young people and their families.
As one of the busiest and most comprehensive children’s hospitals in Europe, they handle everything from common ailments to the most complex and specialised conditions.
Alder Hey are driven by the conviction to think differently and operate a dedicated Innovation Hub – the largest in the UK.
The patient (customer) is the epicentre of everything they do – and such is their focus on operational excellence that their waiting lists are typically less than five patients! They are also at the forefront of helping to mitigate social inequality and democratising healthcare.
Wavelength, in partnership with Alder Hey, are proud to offer the opportunity for teams of leaders from your organisation to visit this truly inspiring organisation.
Who is Inside Alder Hey for?
Inside Alder Hey is ideal for teams of between 12-20 leaders keen to gain some new insights, inspiration, and perspectives on: innovation, operational excellence, customer focus and social inclusion.
The teams could comprise of:
- Intact teams looking for inspiration on one or more of the core themes
- Leaders from talent pools looking for a unique leadership development experience
- Professionals from the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors seeking to gain some new ideas and inspiration from an organisation operating in a related sector
- Leaders looking at sustainability or social value strategies
What are the programme elements?
During the course of this highly immersive, in-person visit, participants will learn about excellence in innovation, customer (patient) centricity, operational efficiency, high-pressure decision-making and social inclusion.
Despite operating in a highly-regulated, publicly-scrutinised, cost-constrained environment, Alder Hey operates an Innovation hub dedicated to operational efficiency and the exploration of pioneering procedures to save children’s lives.
The patient is also at the epicentre of everything they do, and such is their focus on operational excellence, using an AI algorithm to predict patients who are not brought to hospital by their parents or responsible adult, they reduced ‘missed appointments’ by 80%!
They are also at the forefront of helping to mitigate social inequality and democratising healthcare.
Inside Alder Hey is open to groups of minimum 12 and maximum 20 leaders, will take place on a date of your choosing, and comprises two core elements:
1. Highly experiential visit: Between 4-5 hours in duration including presentations, tours, breaks and discussions.
2. Action Planning Workshop: Immediate post visit opportunity for the team to stay on within the Innovation Hub to debrief and discuss the key learnings and action plan.
I feel grateful, inspired and humbled by the incredible work of Alder Hey Innovation led by Iain Hennessey and his team. Their customer obsession, outside the box thinking and bravery in pushing the boundaries of technology to save the lives of children faster and better is refreshing and inspiring. Aldermore Bank shares a unique connection in the name, which symbolises strength, confidence and determination. I’m really proud to be part of this business and am filled with hope for how we can take and implement learnings from Alder Hey to create more value for our customers.
Alder Hey is one of the best development experiences that I’ve ever had. I would highly recommend this day for leaders and innovation teams who want a fresh perspective on the connection between purpose and innovation.
A completely uplifting and inspiring experience - a radical lesson in how to make innovation part of organisational culture.
