This year we are thrilled to have launched our new Patient Entrepreneur Programme. 

In this series we speak to our new patient entrepreneurs and find out why they decided to innovate. This week we are pleased to welcome Olivia Burns, CEO of Hypoplas. 

Tell us a bit about yourself 

I was born with a rare congenital heart condition called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, which essentially means the left side of my heart did not form correctly. This led me to become the 13^th patient within the NHS to have pioneering heart surgeries to save my life. I was in and out of hospital up until the age of 18, having 3 open heart surgeries and over 18 procedures at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.   

When I turned 18, I enrolled into a bachelor’s degree in fashion business and management at Manchester Metropolitan University. My last project of the course was to build a business, and through my experiences of wearing a hospital gown as a patient, I wanted to explore how I could make it better.   

During my time in hospital, I found the hospital gowns extremely uncomfortable and often got in the way of medical equipment, even causing such a problem with one of my drains, that I needed to have a further procedure after open-heart surgery, all due to a gown. I also knew the indignity of the gown, and how hard it is to wear as a young female, surrounded by senior surgeons, male doctors, and anaesthetists. 

This led me to re-design the gown with a keen focus on dignity and I was fortunate enough to complete my research at Manchester University Foundation Trust. I spoke to NHS executives, nurses, healthcare assistants and I started to realise that the gowns were not only undignified for patients, but they were causing mass textile waste as they go straight to landfill. This then introduced an issue around sustainability, and I wanted to explore how I could support this. Another factor I saw was cost effectiveness as 41% of patients were needing multiple gowns, meaning that the NHS laundry bills are 41% higher because they are washing 2 gowns per patient rather than 1.  

I concluded that the current gowns were inadequate on a clinician level, patient level and overall NHS level, and this is what pushed me to re-design the gown and build my own business, Hypoplas. 

Tell us about your innovation  

Hypoplas is an innovative patient wear brand that creates comfortable and stylish clothing for patients. Our mission is to make the recovery process more comfortable and convenient for patients. We understand that wearing traditional hospital gowns can be uncomfortable and inconvenient, so we created the Inversus gown. 

The Inversus gown is designed to be dignified and have numerous access points to the patient to cater for a variety of medical needs. The gown wraps around the patient, allowing it to be opened from both the front and the back, and the silhouette allows medical equipment to sit comfortably on the body without being pulled by the gown. It also has open sleeves, so that practitioners can perform IV delivery, drainage check and patient observations in a more efficient manner, that minimises patient disturbance and discomfort.  

Fastenings on the gown are made of a low-profile Velcro which ensures it can be opened quickly during medical emergencies and does not irritate patients’ skin, whilst allowing patients with decreased dexterity to close their own gowns. In addition, the low-profile Velcro does not collect lint, and therefore can be sterilised when washed in line with NHS laundering standards.  

The new gown aims to support the NHSs Net Zero Goal by reducing textile waste through having purposeful access points which stop the institutional practice of cutting gowns during medical emergencies. It also has a reduced carbon footprint by being designed in a way that only one gown will be required per patient to reduce laundry loads and Hypoplas offers a recondition clinic, where companies replace the Velcro fastenings of the gown after a substantial number of washes elongating the lifespan of the gown.  

The Inversus gown has been approved by NHS Procurement and our economic and sustainability data demonstrates that it is more cost effective than the current gown used in hospitals.   

Why did you apply to join the programme, and what are you most looking forward to?

When I saw the programme, I knew that this was the opportunity I needed to support my innovation. I am a huge advocate for the NHS and I would like to give back to the institute which saved my life by creating gowns which are better for everyone.  

The NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme looked like a great way for patients to get involved with innovating in healthcare and I wanted to be a trailblazer in encouraging other patients to have a voice around how we can improve our NHS.  

I hope the programme can support me in building networks within the NHS and help with getting my product out there, to support future generations and future patients who are born with conditions like mine. 

  

What are your ambitions for the next year?

After our upcoming product evaluation, we’ll be prepared to launch the gown across the NHS, to support patients, clinicians, and our broader healthcare system.  

What is your key piece of advice to aspiring patient entrepreneurs?

Just go for it!  

Despite any feelings of inadequacy, your patient knowledge is incredibly valuable. Patients witness the entire healthcare journey and possess a unique, holistic perspective on this experience. In fact, they are often the most qualified individuals in the room. As patients, we must collaborate with the NHS, fostering innovation and driving improvements for the future of our remarkable healthcare system.