NHS Innovation Accelerator marks a decade of impact
The NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) has published its 10-year impact report, highlighting how the programme has helped scale high-impact innovations across the NHS and improve care for millions of patients.
Since launching in 2015, the NIA has supported 140 evidence-based innovations to spread across the health and care system, reaching over 10 million patients and 3,500 NHS sites nationwide. Fellows supported through the programme have collectively raised more than £243 million in investment and won 261 awards, demonstrating the growing role of innovation in tackling the NHS’s most pressing challenges.
The report comes at a critical moment for the NHS, as the health service faces increasing demand and workforce pressures. It shows how innovation is helping to deliver the key priorities set out in the government’s 10 Year Health Plan, including shifting care from hospitals to communities, moving from analogue to digital systems, and focusing more on prevention.
Real-world examples highlighted in the report demonstrate the impact of NIA-supported innovations already transforming services across the country. These include digital tools supporting healthier lifestyles and self-management in primary care, teledermatology platforms enabling faster cancer diagnoses, and school-based mental health programmes helping prevent escalation into specialist services.
“Over the past decade, the NIA has shown what is possible when you back brilliant innovators with the right support and connect them with the systems that need their solutions most. This report demonstrates the real, measurable impact that innovation can have, not only improving outcomes for patients, but also supporting the NHS workforce and helping the system work more efficiently. As the NHS looks to the future, innovation will be central to delivering the transformation set out in the 10 Year Health Plan.”
“Over the past decade, the NIA has shown what is possible when you back brilliant innovators with the right support and connect them with the systems that need their solutions most. This report demonstrates the real, measurable impact that innovation can have, not only improving outcomes for patients, but also supporting the NHS workforce and helping the system work more efficiently. As the NHS looks to the future, innovation will be central to delivering the transformation set out in the 10 Year Health Plan.”
“Scaling innovation in the NHS is complex, but the last decade has shown that it is possible when innovators, clinicians, patients and system leaders work together. What’s particularly exciting is the continued growth we see after innovators leave the programme. Many go on to expand rapidly, creating jobs, attracting investment and delivering even greater impact for patients and the NHS.”
Jack Porter, Co-Director of the NHS Innovation Accelerator
Looking ahead, the NIA will continue to strengthen the innovation pipeline by supporting earlier-stage innovators, expanding its learning programmes, and building new tools to help NHS organisations identify and adopt proven solutions more quickly.
As the NHS looks to the future, the report reinforces the role of innovation in building a more sustainable, efficient and patient-centred health system for the decade ahead.
