Forecasting tomorrow’s challenges
Why proven innovations still struggle to scale
Innovative technologies have huge potential to improve patient care, support NHS staff and boost productivity. Yet many proven solutions never move beyond small-scale pilots. To better understand why, we conducted a large qualitative study of more than 50 health innovators working with the NHS.
The resulting report, State of the Nation: Insights from UK Health Innovators, revealed the practical barriers preventing innovation from reaching patients at scale. Innovators described fragmented regulatory processes, complex procurement pathways and a lack of capacity within NHS organisations to adopt and spread new technologies.
By capturing the experiences of innovators working directly with the NHS, the report gave policymakers and NHS leaders clear evidence of what needs to change.
Through this work, we helped strengthen the case for practical reforms to procurement, adoption and spread. The findings show that improving adoption is not just about finding better technologies. It also means creating the right conditions for proven innovations to move from pilots into everyday care, so patients and staff can benefit sooner.
“We are often stuck in ‘pilotitis’, with no movement from pilot to business-as-usual.”
Health innovator interviewed for the report
“Innovation must be rooted in real-world problems, not abstract solutions. Clinicians and innovators need the right conditions to work together – otherwise, the pace of change the NHS urgently needs will remain out of reach.”
Professor Becky Shipley OBE FREng, Chief Research Officer, UCLPartners