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Digital and service solutions to NHS challenges: apply for funds

Up to £6 million is available to help businesses and NHS organisations in England to come together to test out integrated healthcare products and services.

NHS prescriptions sign in pharmacy shop window

NHS prescriptions sign in pharmacy shop window.

Innovate UK is to invest up to £4.5 million on behalf of the Office for Life Sciences in projects that combine digital and service innovations to significantly improve healthcare.

NHS England is to invest a further £1.5 million specifically in projects that apply digital approaches to supporting people with type 2 diabetes.

Test in real-world settings

We are seeking initial expressions of interest from both businesses with innovative digital projects and NHS organisations in England willing to lead a series of trials.

Successful applicants will be invited to a workshop where they will be able to meet and select partners. Consortia will then be invited to submit a detailed application to apply for funding.

It is part of the NHS test beds programme that aims to help innovators work with the NHS and test innovations in products and process in real-world settings.

Projects must meet NHS priorities

Business should have a market-ready digital product that meets safety and regulatory standards and could address a health and care challenge.

Projects will need to meet the priorities set by NHS England in its 5 Year Forward View.

NHS organisations must have a clearly defined health and care challenge and be willing to lead a consortium that will test whether a combination of product and service innovation can address that challenge.

Projects must produce significant significant health improvements at the same or lower cost.

Competition information

  • we are now inviting expressions of interest and the deadline is midday on 27 March 2018
  • to be eligible for funding you can be:
    • an NHS England organisation or partnership. NHS organisations from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland cannot lead but can be partners in a consortium
    • a business of any size, but funding is only available to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises
  • we expect projects to range in size from £500,000 to £1.5 million and to last up to 18 months
  • businesses could receive up to 70% of their costs. NHS organisations will receive 100% of their costs
  • there will be a briefing event on 2 March 2018
Published 26 February 2018
Last updated 5 March 2018 + show all updates
  1. Clarified that only NHS organisations and partnerships in England are eligible for funding in this strand of the competition.

  2. First published.