SWAG Innovates Together – November 2025
Growing Our Community of Curious, Brave Innovators
Helen Winter, SWAG Clinical Director
On 13 November 2025 we launched something genuinely special: our very first SWAG Innovates Together Forum — a space for clinicians, managers, digital specialists, patient partners and community organisations to come together with one shared ambition: to do things differently, together, for the benefit of people affected by cancer.
From the moment colleagues began introducing themselves — sharing emojis, innovative ideas, and even post-run energy — it was clear that this community is ready for something bold. This first forum was honest, optimistic, and deeply aligned with the direction set out in our new SWAG Innovation Strategy 2025–2028: building a culture of innovation, driving purpose-led change, and collaborating with integrity across our system.
What We Heard: Key Themes and Learnings
- Innovation starts with people, not products
Helen Winter opened with a reminder that innovation is not about shiny tech or isolated pilots. It’s about improving care for patients and families while supporting the workforce to thrive. As she highlighted, the NHS is at a point where doing things differently is not optional — it’s essential.
This echoed Strategic Aim 1 of our Innovation Strategy: empowering our workforce and communities to build a culture of innovation.
- Partnership is everything
Alex Leach (Health Innovation West of England) shared the story behind our new strategic partnership and the national innovation ecosystem we are now connected to. She reminded us that innovation succeeds when we bring together:
- clinical expertise
- implementation know-how
- industry, academic and third-sector partners
- lived experience
This is exactly the kind of ecosystem our Innovation Strategy commits to strengthening — one where innovation is co-designed, governed well, and delivered with integrity.
- Innovation must be safe, ethical and purposeful
Kath Kaboutian (Deputy CDIO, Bristol Health Partners) offered some of the session’s most powerful reflections:
- Innovation isn’t just about going fast — it’s about going safely.
- Digital literacy matters, for staff and patients.
- Technology is rarely the barrier — relationships and trust are.
- We need psychologically safe spaces to challenge each other, learn, and try again.
This resonated deeply with the governance and workforce development commitments in our Innovation Strategy — particularly the need to embed digital skills, safe adoption pathways, and strong oversight.
- Practical innovation is already happening across SWAG
Our quick-fire innovation showcases illustrated what’s possible when curiosity meets collaboration:
- John Kirby shared how AI-supported MDT triage in prostate cancer is reducing administrative burden and improving focus on complex cases — but only through relentless engagement, clear data standards, and ensuring clinicians stay firmly in the decision-making seat.
- Rosie and Millie rounded off our quick-fire session with an energising look at how innovation comes to life at the frontline. Their presentation showcased the power of a motivated clinical team identifying a problem, testing ideas, and iterating quickly — a living example of the “start small, learn fast” mindset our Innovation Strategy encourages. Their honesty about challenges, teamwork, and the practical steps they took was a reminder that innovation is not abstract — it’s real people solving real problems for patients every day
- Speakers emphasised that innovation does not need to be perfect to be valuable — sharing challenges and missteps is part of building our collective learning culture.
How This Forum Aligns With Our SWAG Innovation Strategy
Everything we discussed lands directly within the core aims of our Innovation Strategy 2025–2028:
Empower our workforce and communities
We saw appetite for learning, honesty about digital confidence, and enthusiasm for future training, peer support and “innovation champions”.
Drive purpose-led innovation where it matters most
From MDT automation to digital literacy, the group surfaced real-world problems — exactly where innovation can create the biggest shift in equity, experience and outcomes.
Lead with integrity through strong governance and collaboration
The discussions around data quality, clinical safety, ethics and adoption mirrored the Strategy’s focus on responsible, evidence-based implementation.
Our Strategy is not just a document — it is lived through sessions like this and through the willingness of our community to show up, question, share and collectively imagine better.
What’s Next for SWAG Innovates Together?
This is only the beginning — and the enthusiasm in the (virtual) room confirmed that our SWAG Innovates Together community is ready to grow.
Next time, we’re looking forward to:
- Showcasing more local innovations ready for spread
- Hearing from colleagues tackling the messy, real challenges — data, procurement, digital skills, implementing safely
- Spotlighting patient and community voices who will help shape what “good innovation” looks like
- Exploring the introduction of Innovation Champions across our region
- Continuing to build a safe space for learning, curiosity and healthy challenge
And as we grow…
We want the SWAG Innovates Together community to become a place where:
- Anyone can bring an idea — no matter how small
- People can connect across boundaries and disciplines
- Innovation is demystified
- We celebrate small wins and share hard lessons
- Relationships come before technology
- Our patients see a future where cancer care is more personalised, equitable and high-quality, because we chose to innovate with courage and compassion
A Final Thank You
Thank you to everyone who joined, shared, listened, asked questions, or simply sat in curiosity. Our community is already showing the values that will drive meaningful innovation across SWAG: collaboration, humility, energy, and a shared belief that things can be better.
We can’t wait to see you at the next SWAG Innovates Together Forum on Thursday 12 February 2026. Sign up here: SWAG Innovates Together Feb 2026
