UCLPartners and UCL Global Business School for Health launch NHS Innovation Programme

Every day, NHS staff identify opportunities to improve care, but too many promising ideas struggle to move beyond the early stages. UCLPartners and UCL Global Business School for Health are launching a new programme designed to help turn these ideas into innovations that can improve care at scale.  

Delivered in collaboration with five London NHS Trusts, the programme will support both NHS staff with early-stage ideas and senior healthcare leaders who can help create the conditions for innovation to succeed. 

The programme responds to growing recognition that improving healthcare increasingly depends on organisations being able to identify, develop and adopt innovation more effectively. By investing in NHS staff with ideas alongside healthcare leaders, the initiative aims to strengthen innovation capability across the NHS and accelerate the translation of ideas into impact.  

This initiative is part of UCLPartners’ work to build one of the UK’s strongest health innovation ecosystems, creating the skills, networks and infrastructure needed to transform NHS staff insight into real-world improvements for patients. 

The 5 NHS Trusts participating in this programme are: 

• Barts Health NHS Trust 

• Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust 

• Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 

• Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 

• University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 

Professor Nora Colton, Director of UCL Global Business School for Health, said: “Innovation is essential to creating sustainable, high-quality healthcare systems. We are delighted to partner with UCLPartners to support both the people developing new ideas and the leaders who can help create the conditions for those ideas to succeed. 

“By bringing together practical learning, expertise and real healthcare challenges, we want to build the skills and knowledge needed to turn promising ideas into improvements for patients and populations.” 

Dr Chris Laing, Chief Executive of UCLPartners, said: “Some of the best ideas for improving healthcare come from the people delivering care every day. But moving an idea beyond the early stages takes the right support, alongside organisations that are equipped to adopt and scale innovation. This programme brings those two things together, helping create the conditions for innovation to thrive across the NHS.” 

The healthcare leaders element of this programme will also bring together senior leaders from across the wider north, east and central London health and care system, creating opportunities to share learning, build networks and strengthen the conditions for innovation to flourish across organisational boundaries.  

The first Health Innovation Leadership programme will take place in November 2026, with the first Innovation Kickstarter cohort beginning in January 2027.  

Further information is available here