title: Dragons' Den: promoting healthcare research and innovation.
abstract: The changing health and social care landscape, and, in particular, the financial challenges affecting the NHS, can present difficulties for staff looking for funding to support innovation and new ways of working. One method of competitive tendering that is becoming more accepted as a way of allocating funds, encouraging staff engagement and developing innovation for research is a format based the BBC television series, Dragons' Den. This article describes how Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust, London, has developed a 'Dragons' Den initiative' of annual competitive research funding allocation to ensure that some of the most dynamic practice in the trust is captured.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of society and health, Buckinghamshire New University, Uxbridge.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mazhindu
authors.affiliation: Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust, London.
authors.forename: Siobhan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gregory
mesh_terms: D006302:Health Services Research / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D013222:State Medicine; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: Dragons’ Den; Innovation; finances; funding