In 2021, leading researchers at the Health Foundation mapped existing NHS innovation funding programmes. Only 13% explicitly supported implementation. Subsequent analysis, such as the evaluation of the NHS AI Lab, identified too much central funding and support goes to new technology and pilots, not to their implementation.
Re-running the mapping again in 2025, established adoption still loses out:
- Only 19% of programmes offering funding for innovation are actually dedicated to adoption and implementation, rather than trialling new things.
- Comparatively very little central funding is supporting the much-needed evaluation of new technologies – the Foundation estimate funding for rapid evaluation initiatives to be only around £10m in 2021, and the same in 2025.
- Longer-term funding, which is critical for realising the benefits of more complex service change through technology, is also hard to come by – they identified only five programmes in 2025 that offer funding up to five years (three of which are to end by next year).
- There is still too little focus on non-clinical innovation, with their potential for improved working conditions, and cost savings. In 2021 the Foundation identified two such programmes supporting non-clinical innovation, in 2025 just one.
BIVDA welcome the report. We know our members provide world leading innovation, yet too often struggle to penetrate the NHS market and are forced to look abroad. Our Innovation working group, which meets for the first time on the 9th July, will look to address this issue along with our existing Market Access workstreams.
You can find the report here.
