Embedded in a clinical environment, the Helix Design Centre was launched with a vision to identify everyday healthcare innovation from within the NHS.
Recognised for our collaboration with London’s Royal College of Art and the world renowned inclusive design thought leaders the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre, Rodd were invited to mentor the newly formed Helix Design Centre in their first year and help them establish a culture of high impact innovation within the NHS.
The Helix Design Centre is the first professional design and innovation agency based within a frontline NHS hospital.
A design-led collaboration between the RCA, Imperial College London and St. Mary’s Hospital, the centre was launched to explore how user-centred design can enhance patient care and meet the needs of an ageing population.
Along with international academic and commercial partners such as Stanford University and the IDEO, RODD were proudly selected to help the Operations Director for the Helix Design Centre define their commercial operating model and provide regularly mentorship in their first year.
The model blended intellectual property development for their own user-centred research projects with structuring partnership engagements with the front-line NHS team.
Together, we laid the foundation for how Helix would develop its own design thinking in healthcare, exploring low-cost, high impact innovations that could become pieces of intellectual property and scale across all NHS Trusts.
Further, we supported the design team as they established their professional practice, running a series of facilitated workshops at our studio that explored how to leverage design to achieve the maximum social and economic impact and deliver healthcare innovation from within.
With our proven track record for delivering impact via user-centred design, we were able to help accelerate and professionalise Helix’s design practice by acting as a second client and a dedicated mentor.
