What the Care Innovation Challenge has meant to me

As she prepares for the final at the NEC Care Show, BuddiesForLife founder Sian Ellingworth reflects on the conversations, connections and willingness to rethink that have shaped her journey.

There’s a lot to get ready before the Care Show. Videos, posters, leaflets, samples - and the inevitable list of things I’m still trying to squeeze in.

But amongst all that, I wanted to pause and reflect on what being part of the Care Innovation Challenge has meant to me. Because the people I’ve met through it have already had a lasting influence on what we’re building.

BuddiesForLife began with my own experience of trying to find toothpaste my autistic daughter could tolerate. That very personal challenge grew into a much wider commitment to making oral care more comfortable and accessible for people who struggle with conventional products.

That commitment eventually led to Senses Moisture Care, and to an invitation to attend the Care Innovation Challenge weekend.

I went into the weekend with an oral moisture formulation that had already been independently evaluated, and an applicator concept I’d put a great deal of work into. Becoming a semi-finalist gave me the opportunity to take that work further, with access to people whose experience could help me understand where it would be most useful.

And they challenged me to look again.

One of my biggest takeaways was that we needed to go back to users, carers and clinical experts to determine the most appropriate, practical and affordable ways to apply the formulation.

When you’ve invested so much in developing something, it’s easy to keep concentrating on making your original idea work. The Challenge helped me step back and ask better questions. Who needs this? Who will be applying it? What will work in the middle of an ordinary care routine?

Those questions have shaped everything since.

The introductions and conversations that followed have been incredibly valuable. Helen Glasspool helped open doors; mentors shared their experience and challenged my thinking; practitioners made time to explain the realities of providing care. People with lived experience helped me better understand the impact of dry mouth on people’s everyday lives.

Conversations with the team at Nightingale Hammerson, including their Speech and Language Therapist, helped clarify different application needs. Through an introduction from St. Monica Trust, Deirdre Brunton, co-author of ‘RCN guidelines on end of life mouthcare’, brought valuable expertise in palliative and end-of-life oral care.

Then, during our visit to St Monica Trust, something David Williams said really stayed with me: innovation is more likely to be adopted when it fits within existing routines, rather than requiring people to create new ones around it.

That helped bring several strands of feedback together.

For someone receiving assisted oral care, a gel that carers can apply using familiar tools such as  finger-wrapped gauze, an appropriate oral swab or a toothbrush, offers flexibility within existing routines.

We’re now developing a single-use gel ampoule for that purpose, particularly for palliative and end-of-life care.

Feedback has also shaped the formulation. Concerns about glycerin amongst some palliative-care practitioners highlighted a potential barrier to adoption. We’ve therefore chosen to develop the assisted-care gel without it.

Each of these decisions has come from listening carefully to the people who understand the setting, the practical demands and the person receiving care.

The process has also helped me recognise two distinct needs more clearly. Our Senses Oral Moisture Spray is for people able to manage their own dry-mouth care. Pre-orders are opening now, with delivery planned for the end of October. The gel is being developed for people who need someone else to help, with a February launch currently targeted.

We have a much clearer direction than we did at the start of the summer.

There have been other lovely outcomes too.

My fellow finalists and I have formed a “Let’s All Win” group, so we can support one another before and beyond the final. I’ve really valued that willingness to share ideas, encouragement and experience whilst each of us is working hard on our own innovation.

Another mentor, Nathan Evans, CEO at The Shaw Foundation, recently brought his operations team together to hear about our products. Their response was so positive that we’re now sending samples as a first step towards organising trials.

Alongside this, discussions with Quantum Care have led to plans for an Oral Care Innovation Network, bringing together Oral Health Champions, frontline practitioners and those with lived experience.

My hope is that it becomes a place where people can identify unmet needs, share what they’re learning and help develop practical evidence about what works in everyday oral care. There is so much knowledge within the sector, and I’m excited about what we might achieve by bringing more of it together.

So, as I prepare for the NEC, I feel grateful for the time, honesty and generosity people have given me. Their input has changed decisions and helped me understand more clearly how our work could make a difference.

There’s still plenty to do. But I’m arriving with a stronger proposition, valuable relationships and a much better understanding of the next steps.

If you’re coming to the Care Show, please come and talk to us. I’d love to hear about the oral-care challenges you encounter - and, if your care setting is interested in helping evaluate the assisted-care gel, please register your interest.

Those conversations have brought us this far. I’m looking forward to seeing where the next ones take us.