NHS Innovation Accelerator and Alzheimer’s Society partner to help promising dementia innovations reach the NHS faster
The NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) and Alzheimer’s Society have launched a new partnership to help promising dementia innovations reach the NHS faster and give innovators stronger support to move from early-stage development to real-world adoption.
The partnership comes as dementia continues to place growing pressure on people, families and health services across the UK. With nearly one million people currently living with the condition and demand for support rising, both organisations will work together to back evidence-based solutions and improve outcomes for patients, carers and the wider health system.
The collaboration combines the NIA’s track record in identifying and scaling high-impact health innovations in the NHS with Alzheimer’s Society’s expertise in dementia and supporting dementia innovations.
“This partnership reflects our ambition to ensure that the very best innovations are adopted by the NHS and reach patients faster. By working with Alzheimer’s Society, we can bring focused expertise and lived experience into the heart of our programme, ensuring solutions for dementia are not only effective, but truly person-centred.”
“This partnership reflects our ambition to ensure that the very best innovations are adopted by the NHS and reach patients faster. By working with Alzheimer’s Society, we can bring focused expertise and lived experience into the heart of our programme, ensuring solutions for dementia are not only effective, but truly person-centred.”
Alzheimer’s Society supports dementia innovations through its current Innovation Programmes – Launchpad and Accelerator – working with innovators from early concepts through to solutions ready to scale. Earlier this year, it was announced that UCLPartners, who deliver the NIA, are providing specific support to innovators on Alzheimer’s Society Launchpad and Accelerator (alongside Good Innovation) including practical insight into how the NHS works, alongside mentoring to help them design and position their solutions for real-world implementation.
“By combining Alzheimer’s Society’s deep understanding of dementia and lived experience with our experience supporting the adoption and spread of health innovation across the NHS, this partnership will help ensure that promising ideas are translated into real-world impact.”
“By combining Alzheimer’s Society’s deep understanding of dementia and lived experience with our experience supporting the adoption and spread of health innovation across the NHS, this partnership will help ensure that promising ideas are translated into real-world impact.”
Additionally, Alzheimer’s Society are now in their second year of the Dementia Innovators Programme, delivered in partnership with the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme – one of the UK’s largest entrepreneurial workforce development initiatives. The programme supports NHS staff and healthcare professionals to develop early-stage ideas and innovations for people living with dementia, while connecting them to a national network of mentors, industry experts and innovators.
The new partnership between Alzheimer’s Society and the NHS Innovation Accelerator complements all of this in creating a stronger support pathway for dementia innovations. Collaborating on the NIA’s three-year programme will open a clearer route for dementia innovations from idea generation to real-world use, spread and adoption in health and care settings.
“We’re committed to driving forward innovation in dementia. But for innovation to truly reach people at scale, we need to ensure there is effective implementation and bring the whole system with us. Supporting entrepreneurs to succeed within the NHS is a critical part of that. Our partnership with the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur programme and working with UCLPartners earlier this year on our Launchpad and Accelerator has already helped our innovators better understand the system. Extending this through the NHS Innovation Accelerator will provide an even stronger platform to make their innovations available through the NHS and transform the lives of people affected by dementia.”
“We’re committed to driving forward innovation in dementia. But for innovation to truly reach people at scale, we need to ensure there is effective implementation and bring the whole system with us. Supporting entrepreneurs to succeed within the NHS is a critical part of that. Our partnership with the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur programme and working with UCLPartners earlier this year on our Launchpad and Accelerator has already helped our innovators better understand the system. Extending this through the NHS Innovation Accelerator will provide an even stronger platform to make their innovations available through the NHS and transform the lives of people affected by dementia.”
Despite a strong pipeline of promising technologies, from digital cognitive assessment tools to AI-supported diagnostics, many dementia innovations still struggle to scale through complex NHS pathways. The new partnership is intended to help close that gap by aligning innovation support more closely with real-world system needs.
Alzheimer’s Society will also help ensure solutions are grounded in the realities faced by people living with dementia and their carers, helping innovators refine products around unmet need and user experience.
More broadly, the partnership points to a more coordinated, system-aware approach to innovation across the NHS. Together, the NIA and Alzheimer’s Society want to show how national programmes and specialist organisations can work together to help high-potential dementia innovations move more quickly from concept to real-world use, improving support for people living with the condition and those who care for them.
