6 | Welcome Ten years ago, we started the Clinical Entrepreneur Programme as a small pilot. It was aimed at junior doctors, but it quickly became clear it was about something bigger, a real, underlying appetite for change within the NHS. In those early days, the team was tiny. There was an enormous amount to do and not much infrastructure around us — a lot of it was built as we went. We were learning on the job, but it also felt full of possibility. I remember the first Pit Stop clearly. Sitting in a room with people who were already starting to think differently, there was a quiet anticipation. People were sharing ideas, testing them out, questioning each other. It wasn’t overly polished, but it was thoughtful, motivated, and full of potential. There were some genuinely brilliant ideas in that room, and a sense that people were ready to act on them. That was probably the moment it felt like we’d uncovered something. We didn’t know what it would become, but people came forward with energy and intent. These were clinicians who didn’t just want to deliver care — they wanted to improve it. For their patients, their colleagues and the systems they were working within. They wanted to build, test, challenge and create. Looking back now, that early spark has developed into something much bigger than I could have imagined at the time. A decade on, the programme has grown into a UK-wide community, spanning professions, sectors and all four nations. Some of that growth has been carefully structured, but a lot of it has happened organically — through the people involved, the ideas they’ve developed, and the connections they’ve built with each other. For me, the success has never really been about the scale alone. It’s about what has come out of it. The startups that have been launched. The leaders who have emerged. The change-makers who are now working across the system in different ways. And importantly, many who have stayed within the NHS — using what they’ve learned through the programme to lead change from within. Improving services, shaping pathways, influencing culture and bringing new ways of thinking into everyday practice. Then, People don’t just take part and move on, they stay connected, they mentor others, collaborate, and support each other’s work. And, at the heart of it, the impact all of this has had on patients and communities. Over time, we’ve also worked hard to broaden who is involved and how we think about innovation. Partnerships with organisations like Crisis and the Alzheimer’s Society have brought in perspectives we didn’t have at the start — helping us better understand inequality, homelessness and longterm conditions. Alongside this, creating a dedicated patient cohort has been an important step, making sure that lived experience is not just considered, but actively shaping ideas and solutions from the outset.
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