Unlocking Innovation in the NHS – Why Good Ideas Struggle to Take Root

This week, I had the privilege of speaking at the Parliamentary Select Committee for Science, Innovation & Technology to discuss one of the most pressing challenges in healthcare: how we enable the NHS to adopt innovation at pace and scale.

The reality on the ground is sobering. Despite world-class research and a vibrant healthtech sector in the UK, many promising technologies struggle to get beyond the pilot phase — not because they lack clinical value, but because of a systemic issue: funding.

NHS Chief Financial Officers are under immense pressure to balance ever-tightening budgets. Understandably, they look for a return on investment within 12 months. But this short-term lens is fundamentally at odds with how innovation works. Transformative technologies — particularly those using AI in mental health, immersive tools, or digital therapeutics — often need time to demonstrate meaningful impact. Expecting immediate savings undermines the opportunity to realise long-term gains in patient outcomes, workforce capacity, and system resilience.

There are reasons for optimism. The introduction of Innovator Passports aims to give healthtech SMEs a clearer route through regulation and procurement, with tailored support to accelerate adoption within the NHS. This aligns closely with the ambitions set out in the NHS 10-Year Plan for Innovation, which outlines three major shifts in how the NHS must evolve:

1. From hospital to community — delivering more care on people’s doorsteps and in their homes
2. From analogue to digital — freeing up staff through better tech and empowering people to manage their care
3. From sickness to prevention — reaching patients earlier and supporting healthier choices

These are exactly the kinds of shifts that NHS Digital Transformation is designed to support — and that innovation can enable, if given the right support.

But policy alone won’t close the funding gap. At Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, for instance, their dedicated Innovation Hub is doing outstanding work engaging SMEs and running real-world pilots. Yet even there, pilots often depend on external grant funding just to get off the ground. That’s not scalable, and it’s not sustainable. SMEs — the engine room of UK healthtech — can’t be expected to deliver free pilots in the hope of future contracts.

This is especially true in critical areas like child mental health technology, where early intervention tools — often developed by small, agile innovators — have the power to transform care for young people. Tools designed to be neurodivergent-friendly and engaging must not be sidelined by red tape or delayed funding models.

That’s why my challenge to government is clear: create a protected innovation funding stream within the NHS — one that cannot be reallocated to core services, but is instead dedicated to helping Trusts pilot, evaluate, and adopt SME-led innovations.

This kind of ringfenced investment would remove a major structural barrier and allow the NHS to realise the full promise of its 10-year vision. If we want a health service that is truly fit for the future, we need to start by funding the future.

The full discusion can be found on our LinkedIn here