NHS England Medical Director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh along with US Digital Health expert Professor Robert Wachter revealed eight health innovations joining the NHS Innovation Accelerator at an event taking place in London to launch year two of the programme.

Last year, the programme selected 17 innovations and supported their roll out across over 380 NHS organisations, benefiting millions of NHS patients.

Each of the innovations are evidence-based and cost-saving and focus on providing solutions to key challenges facing the NHS, including better prevention of ill health, improved management of long term conditions and early intervention into diseases.

The announcement has been welcomed by NHS England Chief Executive Simon Stevens, he said: “Necessity is the mother of invention, and health care worldwide is now fizzing with smart innovation. In the NHS, we’re now taking practical action to develop and fast track these new techniques into mainstream patient care.”

The NHS Innovation Accelerator is led by NHS England and hosted by UCLPartners. It is delivered in partnership with the country’s 15 Academic Health Science Networks who facilitate and support health innovators with getting their innovation rolled out across the NHS.

The accelerator aims to meet the commitment set out the Five Year Forward View to create the conditions and cultural change necessary for proven innovations to be adopted faster and more systematically through the NHS.

Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS England’s National Medical Director, said: “With rising demand and escalating costs, innovation is not an option but a necessity if we are to build a sustainable NHS. The innovations selected for this programme have the potential to deliver better value for the taxpayer whilst making patient interactions with the NHS safer and more personal.”

Speaking at the launch event via video link, Professor Robert Wachter, said: “The work you are doing is extraordinarily important. I think it’s the only way that the NHS will be able to achieve the goals of the Five Year Forward View and even beyond that to develop a health care system for the people of England and the UK that delivers the best, highest quality, safest, most satisfying, accessible care for the lowest possible cost.”

For full details about the eight innovations to be supported this year, visit NHS England’s website.