Milford Hospital Physiotherapist joins NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme | News

Maggie McDowell, Team Lead for Inpatients Physiotherapy at Milford Hospital, has joined the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme (CEP) to further an innovative idea inspired by her day job.

The free NHS entrepreneurial workforce development programme has given Maggie the skills and support she needed to turn her digital healthcare solution idea into reality.

Hard at work developing an app to improve postural awareness and reduce postural-related injuries, Maggie is passionate about exploring digital solutions to clinical problems.

Through her day-to-day physio work, she sees a lot of preventable problems related to people’s posture at work, and the effects of smartphones and other handheld devices on our bodies.

With 89% of UK adults owning a smartphone and many strands of research emerging about the effects of technology on our postural health, Maggie feels there either needs to be a huge mindset change in the next few years or innovative solutions like hers will be needed to help people stay fit and healthy, particularly the younger generation.

The CEP is the biggest programme of its kind in the world, bringing together industry, government, regulators, patients and the NHS to support the healthcare workforce to develop and scale their most innovative ideas for the benefit of patients, staff and the wider NHS.    

Now in its seventh year, this initiative delivered by Anglia Ruskin University, provides a one-year programme of learning that fits neatly around people’s working hours. Consisting of mentoring, events, workshops and professional development sessions, the programme aims to help entrepreneurs and creative thinkers pursue their ideas without having to leave the NHS, whilst also benefiting economic growth in health, social care and life science sectors.

The next step in Maggie’s entrepreneurial journey is to write a grant application for funding to enable her to build and trial her idea, test its viability, secure IP and ensure readiness for market, which is both exciting and daunting in equal measure, but Maggie is really enjoying the process.

She said:

“The programme is an incredible opportunity for anyone across the Trust who has an idea emerging from their clinical practice, and who wants to take that idea forward. It has opened up my eyes to so many different opportunities and ways of working and I am able to apply what I am learning to my day job with very positive effects."