The NHS Tayside Charitable Foundation is delighted to announce the success of the recent Dragons’ Den event, held at the end of April. The event was organised by NHS Tayside Innovation and saw six innovative healthcare projects compete for crucial funding to improve the health and wellbeing of people in Tayside.
“NHS Tayside Charitable Foundation has a priority focused on unlocking innovation,” said Shelley McCarthy, Chief Charity Officer. “This Dragons’ Den event was a new and exciting way for us to partner with NHS Tayside Innovation to work with NHS Tayside applicants and encourage them to think about the future of healthcare. We were impressed by the passion and creativity of all the participants, and we’re thrilled to be able to support these projects that will make a real difference in our communities.”
The event featured a distinguished panel of Dragons, including Dr. Robert Rea, Dr. Mhairi Towler, Dr. Helen Donald-Simpson, Chris Martin, and Ms. McCarthy herself. They heard pitches from six promising candidates:
Ewan Eadie: Innovation for people with light sensitivity.
Clement Seeballuck: Developing a co-creation approach for oral health education comics.
Emma Duckworth: Exploring the use of gaming for mental health treatment.
Gillian Chin & Trisha Chin: A game-based educational solution for health professionals.
Eilaine White & Suzanne Gray (Live and Jive): Bringing music therapy into acute hospital settings.
Robert Ives: Leveraging advancements in gait analysis technology and AI.
These projects represent a diverse range of healthcare innovations, each with the potential to significantly impact the lives of people in Tayside. The NHS Tayside Charitable Foundation and NHS Tayside Innovation are proud to offer funding and support to these initiatives and look forward to seeing their positive impact on the community.
The Dragons’ Den was closed by Hazel Dempsey, the Innovation Programme Lead from the North of Scotland NHS Innovation Hub who said this was an “inspirational event that was expertly facilitated by NHS Tayside Innovation. All participants demonstrated courage, creativity and above all a passion to improve patient care and services in the NHS”.
