https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/our-research/drive-unit-for-digital-innovation/the-clinical-insights-unit-ciu/
The Clinical Insights Unit (CIU)
The Clinical Insights Unit (CIU) uses advanced data analytics to support operational decision making at GOSH. The team is made up of data scientists and analysts who work with operational and clinical teams in the hospital to increase the accessibility and utility of Electronic Patient Record (EPR) data. By partnering with the clinical and operational teams, the CIU can understand their needs and build digital tools to enable data-driven decision making to help run the hospital.
Using ideas and data to transform processes
The CIU engages with idea submitters from the Trust to understand their ideas for improving clinical or operational processes. Our secure Data Research Environment (DRE) allows the team to rapidly collect and analyse data from the Electronic Patient Record (EPR) to define the nature and scale of the opportunity.
Project ideas that show evidence to improve experience or outcomes for patients and clinicians, or lead to financial or time savings, can then be taken forward and implemented at GOSH.
Areas of focus
- Using data to provide operational insights Data from EPR and IT systems can be accessed to provide insights into complex operational issues across the Trust
- Working in partnership The CIU team works in partnership with data teams across the Trust to increase accessibility of data
- Unlocking operational inefficiencies and savings The team also works alongside clinical and operational teams to advise how data insights can be translated into operational changes
Bridging the gap
The CIU team is made up of a Lead, Project Manager, Operational Analysts, Data Scientists, an EPR Designer and the Trust's Deputy Chief Research Information Officer.
The team works closely with 10 Innovation Officers, who are embedded across the Trust in clinical and operational roles. They are ambassadors for innovation and act as change makers in their clinical and operational teams. The Innovation Officers support work across the whole of DRIVE, but work particularly closely with the CIU.
Examples of CIU projects
At GOSH, many of the children we care for have rare or complex diseases, which require rare medication treatments. The CIU team have been developing useful datasets to look at existing patterns in the administration of these rare medications.
By identifying these patterns, we can create reports which indicate where medication administration could be optimised. With this we aim to improve clinical outcomes for our patients and build evidence bases for the on-going use of these medications.
When patients come in for operations or procedures, they will often be discharged to go home on the same day after a short stay on a ward. These types of admissions are known as ‘day cases’.
The CIU team have been combining multiple data elements to build a picture of how day cases currently run at GOSH. Then, by creating simulations of day case processes the team can predict the impact that operational changes could have on flow.
This will allow operational and clinical teams to identify areas for improvement and test operational ideas for increasing bed availability for patients, enabling data-driven decision making.
The CIU team have been using algorithms to identify over-testing patterns in GOSH lab test requests and the associated costs.
Using these results, the team can help to optimise interventions and measure success of changes in practice, which can lead to measurable reduction in over-testing. This in turn could lead to better patient experience and cost savings within the Trust.
Meet the Innovation Officers
Within the GOSH DRIVE team, there are a group of Innovation Officers who are embedded across the Trust in clinical and operational roles and have protected time for innovation projects.
They support idea generation for new data and technology solutions and act as change makers in their clinical and operational teams.
The Innovation Officer posts are funded through our ongoing partnership with Roche UK.
Find out more about the 2026-2027 Innovation Officers and their contact details below.
About Nikesh
Nikesh brings strong digital‑clinical expertise, having served as a Pharmacy Innovation Officer and Subject Matter Expert for the EPIC rollout. His leadership on Pill Planet demonstrates his talent for turning clinical challenges into scalable, patient‑centred innovation. He combines deep medication‑safety knowledge with a proven ability to unite multidisciplinary teams and deliver impactful change.
About Sally
Sally offers invaluable insight into family experiences and outpatient pathways, drawing on rich multidisciplinary relationships across GOSH. With two years as an IO, she has championed practical, scalable improvements—including work on digital poverty and medication pathways—and excels at connecting teams to reduce siloed working and enhance patient flow.
Words from Sally:
“Working in a speciality which is predominantly outpatient-based, EPIC has been a transformative tool for effective and secure communication between the organisation and patient’s families. I enjoy being part of a team encouraging expert users to think of ways of using data to support service development.
I am particularly excited about the potential for using AI to produce clinic letters during consultations which would be game changing. Capturing information accurately in real time means we can concentrate on the important part which is the patient and their family.
Along with the Endocrinology division, I want to focus on nursing services for both the clinical nurse specialists and Nurse Education teams, as they have plenty of ideas and years of experience and many just need to know that DRIVE is available to everyone.”
About Deirdre
Deirdre brings strong quality‑improvement leadership, including guiding the ReACT initiative and redesigning nephrology workflows. Working in a highly data‑driven specialty, she is passionate about using Epic data, AI, and predictive analytics to improve dialysis care, AKI prevention, and patient outcomes. Her QI, teaching and research experience make her a powerful advocate for data‑enabled innovation.
About Oli
Oli blends clinical leadership with a strategic background in consultancy and medical management. Currently completing an Executive MSc, he has led multiple innovation projects including AI‑ECG analysis, digital scribing, and analytics to enhance flow and length‑of‑stay predictions. His passion for high‑quality data and systems improvement positions him as a dynamic champion for data‑driven healthcare.
About Liz
Liz contributes deep laboratory expertise and data‑driven research skills, shaped by her NIHR‑funded PhD in predictive modelling. As the Immunology Subject Matter Expert for EPIC, she led process redesign and workflow optimisation across clinical and lab teams. Skilled in communication and stakeholder engagement, she is committed to unlocking the potential of lab data to drive personalised care and operational efficiency.
Words from Liz
“In Laboratory Medicine a lot of data is collected and there is huge potential to use this to improve both efficiency within the labs at GOSH, and to improve patient care, which is what motivated me to apply to become an Innovation Officer.
Using data well depends on collaboration, and in my role I’m looking forward to bringing together lab teams, clinicians, and data analysts so that the data collected can be actively used for real change. This may be anything from analysing EPIC data on turnaround times for lab tests to highlight delays that impact clinical pathways so that we can eliminate these and reduce waiting times for patient results, to working on predictive modelling to enable earlier intervention or personalised treatment approaches and optimise patient care.”