Connecting communities to inspire change At the BMJ Research Forum 2022, attendees had the privilege of hearing Dr. Katherine Freeman from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) deliver a thought-provoking presentation on the “Sandpit Methodology” for awarding research grants. This innovative approach aimed to unleash free thinking and inspire interdisciplinary collaboration to tackle significant challenges.
One attendee from UCL Trust embraced this idea and brought it back to an organisation that manages 17 hospitals who provide care for over 6 million patients. Such impressive statistics highlight how a single idea implemented within a large healthcare system can yield significant change. The success of the Sandpit Methodology has led to its presentation at the International Forum, this time to an audience of over 3,000 attendees. The potential for these ideas to spread across organisations worldwide is immense; all it takes is one individual to carry them back to their respective institutions. The impact of BMJ’s events extends far beyond the conference room. By connecting communities, inspiring change, and facilitating the exchange of knowledge and experiences, these platforms can transform entire sectors and healthcare systems. The success story of the Sandpit Methodology and its implementation at UCL Trust exemplify how a single idea, shared among passionate individuals, can create global ripples of change.
Among the attendees was a representative from UCLPartners, a healthcare organisation, who was deeply inspired by the Sandpit Methodology’s potential to encourage collaboration and co-production. Determined to bring about change, she took the concept back to UCLP and applied it to their Climate Collaborative project 37 —an initiative aimed at implementing the NHS Green Plan in their hospitals. The implementation of the Sandpit Methodology involved bringing together doctors, nurses, estates staff, and IT teams from across the entire UCL Trust to work collectively towards achieving Net Zero emissions. The success of this collaboration was so remarkable that Dominique Allwood, Chief Medical Officer at UCLPartners, volunteered to chair the sustainability session at the BMJ Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare - Copenhagen 2023, sharing insights and experiences from their work. In December 2022, our inaugural BMJ Research Forum saw 300 individuals gather in BMA House, London, where the concept of the Sandpit Methodology took root.
BMJ’s global reach and its ability to convene diverse audiences of leaders, innovators, and specialists are what make such knowledge-sharing and expertise exchange possible. The organisation has demonstrated its commitment to amplifying the voices that deserve to be heard, enabling experiences and insights to be shared, and inspiring individuals across functional and national boundaries. Dominique Allwood Chief Medical Officer, at UCLPartners; Senior Visiting Fellow at The Health Foundation; Director of Population Health at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, England
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