Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Pitch Perfect

What impressed the judges most about Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust’s (CNWL) Pitch Perfect initiative, developed after a 2025 staff survey found only 50.9 per cent felt involved in decisions on changes affecting their work, a figure that had fallen since 2021, was its “strong commitment to employee voice”. 

It was clear from the employee feedback that existing improvement processes were too complex and largely inaccessible to frontline staff without project management experience. There was no simple or visible route for a nurse, say, to bring an idea forward and see it taken seriously.

The result was a persistent gap between what CNWL said it valued and what staff experienced day to day. With almost 9,000 staff members working in complex, high-pressure environments, providing mental health, community health, addictions and health and justice services, an engaged workforce empowered to shape improvement was fundamental to operational success. 

In response, CNWL designed Pitch Perfect to maximise inclusivity, accessibility and psychological safety, “removing every barrier between staff and organisational decision making”. It saw staff submit ideas to enhance patient care, productivity and experience via an accessible one-page application, and the strongest proposals received funding and executive backing, with shortlisted staff pitching live to the executive team in a Dragons’ Den-style format.

Launched in October 2025, the initiative generated more than 180 ideas from 150-plus employees across a range of services, and 35 projects were funded. “Pitch Perfect shifted the employee experience from passive compliance to active contribution, creating visible, meaningful routes for staff voices,” the trust said, adding: “The most significant change has been cultural. Pitch Perfect is now embedded as a sustainable annual model within CNWL’s innovation pathway, ensuring staff voice continues to shape organisational improvement over the long term, not as a one-off, but as a cultural commitment.”

The judges were impressed by the trust’s “deep understanding of the relationship between employee experience, trust, empowerment and service improvement, particularly within a complex and high-pressure NHS environment” and praised its “strong authenticity”, adding: “The simplicity of the one-page application process, the workshops and drop-in support and the visible executive sponsorship created a genuinely inclusive and psychologically safe approach to innovation and employee voice.”