CareBoodle (Cohort 9.0) wins £75,000 award for delirium digital escalation tool for carers

---

CareBoodle, co-founded by Dr Kirsten Protherough, is one of 61 Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award winners and will be independently evaluated by the University of Worcester.

---

A Worcestershire GP has won a £75,000 Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award for CareBoodle, a digital tool designed to help care professionals spot delirium early. Dr Kirsten Protherough is one of three women behind CareBoodle, which will be independently evaluated by the University of Worcester's Association for Dementia Studies. 

CareBoodle helps care professionals spot delirium - a common condition in people living with frailty and dementia that, when caught in time, is often treatable, allowing people to recover and stay in their own homes. Protherough developed it with two other women from health and care: Liz Blacklock, a registered nurse of 38 years and founder of Lapis Care in Hampshire, and Stella Shaw, a registered nurse and founder of StellarCare NW in Cheshire West. 

Delirium is a sudden change in mental state and behaviour - including agitation, sleepiness, confusion, disorientation and altered awareness - that comes on over hours or days. It is common in people over 65 with frailty or dementia. The people most likely to notice the change first are care professionals, who rarely have a structured way to identify it or a clear route to act. 

CareBoodle turns clinical expertise into a structured assessment that any care professional can complete, with a clear escalation route when something is wrong. It is a digital escalation tool for carers - a way to act on the sense that something has changed. 

A 2025 policy report led by researchers at Queen Mary University of London estimated that delirium cost the NHS in England £10.8 billion in 2022. 

CareBoodle is one of 61 winners in this year's Women in Innovation cohort, each receiving a £75,000 grant alongside a 12-month package of business support, training and networking. The grant will fund the University of Worcester evaluation, which runs from July 2026 to June 2027 with multiple care providers taking part, and further development of the technology - refining ease of use and preparing it for wider roll-out. 

Dr Kirsten Protherough, co-founder of CareBoodle, said: 

"As a GP, every shift I hear and see the devastating consequences of delirium, including falls, fractures and hospital admissions. The opportunity to catch it earlier will benefit the person and the NHS. A tool like this will support carers' communication with healthcare professionals. Having it evaluated here in Worcestershire, in collaboration with the University of Worcester, matters a great deal." 

"Delirium is far better recognised now within medical circles; however, it is less well understood in social care and the community. Catch it early and treat it, and people recover - they keep their quality of life and they stay at home. Miss the window and they deteriorate, which is worse for the person and adds pressure that the NHS cannot absorb. CareBoodle makes early detection and escalation something any care professional can do." 

The award is part of Innovate UK's largest-ever Women in Innovation cohort. In the programme's 10th anniversary year, a record 1,590 women founders applied and 100 have been recognised, 61 of them as award winners. 

Emily Nott, Head of Inclusive Innovation at Innovate UK, said: 

"Huge congratulations to everyone recognised in this year's Women in Innovation Awards. Reaching the 10th anniversary of the programme with record levels of engagement demonstrates the extraordinary talent, unstoppable ambition and groundbreaking innovation being developed by women across the UK. 

 Whether named as an award winner or highly commended applicant, each member of this cohort is working towards delivering significant economic and social impact for the nation through innovation. We are proud to support these inspiring founders as they navigate the critical growth stages ahead and to create pathways for more women-led businesses to become industry giants of the future."