Innovation can transform NHS care, but scaling is the missing piece

At this year’s NHS ConfedExpo, one message came through clearly: innovation is already improving care across the NHS, but we are not yet consistently delivering at scale for the benefit of patients.

And that matters because, ultimately, this is about how patients, wherever they live, are able to benefit from earlier diagnosis, more proactive care, and better outcomes. It is about ensuring that people can access the right care, at the right time, in the right place, and that we prevent illness before it takes hold.

This ambition sits firmly within the government’s broader reform agenda, including the 10-Year Health Plan, which sets out a long-term vision for a more preventative, community-based, and patient-centred NHS. Alongside the focus on the major conditions, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease, mental health, and musculoskeletal conditions, the direction of travel is clear: earlier intervention, improved outcomes, and more personalised care closer to home.

Delivering on this is also about creating what we at Boehringer Ingelheim describe as Healthy Returns – better outcomes and quality of life for patients, a more sustainable NHS, and a healthier, more productive society. But delivering those returns depends on one critical factor: the ability to move innovation beyond isolated success and into system-wide adoption.

From policy ambition to better patient outcomes

Across NHS ConfedExpo, including in Ministerial speeches, was agreement that recovery and reform must go hand in hand. We know that innovation, technology, and new models of care are central to delivering better outcomes for patients, both now and in the long term. At the same time, there was a clear challenge to the system: we must become more confident in adopting change – not only asking what might go wrong, but recognising the very real consequences of standing still.

The NHS is not short of innovation. Across the major conditions, we see compelling examples of tools and pathways that support earlier diagnosis and proactive care. But too many of these innovations remain in pilot phases.

From ‘pilotitis’ to progress

That is why one of the most striking themes in our session “From pilotitis to progress” was the gap between innovation and adoption.

What came through clearly is that the barriers are as much structural and cultural as they are financial. Short-term funding cycles sit alongside long-term innovation horizons. Decision-making is fragmented. And, too often, adoption depends on individual champions, rather than being embedded into the system itself.

The shift towards prevention and population health, which are central to both the major conditions agenda and the 10-Year Health Plan, offer an opportunity to change this. By investing earlier, we can reduce avoidable hospitalisations, slow disease progression, and improve long-term outcomes.

But creating space for this requires difficult decisions.

Not every existing intervention will continue to deliver value for patients in a system focused on prevention. Stakeholders, including Integrated Care Boards, must be willing to have open conversations about trade-offs to prioritise interventions that deliver the greatest benefit to patients over the long term.

That means a greater focus on identifying risk proactively, using data more effectively, and designing services around how people live their lives. It also means delivering care closer to home, in communities, primary care, and neighbourhood settings, where patients are more likely to engage.

But achieving this requires a shift in how we think about innovation.

Changing mindsets around innovation

Too often, innovation is viewed through the lens of short-term cost. Yet, as many discussions highlighted, this perspective underestimates its long-term value. Investing earlier – preventing disease, slowing progression, improving management – delivers measurable benefits for patients and reduces avoidable pressure on the system over time.

Innovation does not scale simply because it is effective. It scales because the system is designed to support it. That means investing in the enablers of change – workforce training, pathway redesign, digital infrastructure – and creating a more predictable environment for innovation to be implemented across different settings.

It also means moving away from reliance on individual passion projects and towards a system that can consistently adopt and sustain change. If we get this right, innovation becomes not just something new, but something that genuinely improves how patients experience care.

Partnerships are critical in making this possible

What we heard at NHS ConfedExpo is that innovation, prevention, and policy priorities are only meaningful if they translate into better outcomes for patients.

No single organisation can deliver the scale of transformation required to address the issues at hand. Effective partnerships between the NHS, industry, government, and the voluntary sector bring together the expertise, data, and capabilities needed to design, implement, and scale new approaches.

But the most effective partnerships are those that are focused on outcomes – clear about the problems they are solving and the value they are delivering for patients. They are collaborative, not transactional, and designed to leave a lasting impact that extends beyond individual programmes.

What NHS ConfedExpo reinforced is that the ambition is already there. The policy direction is clear. The evidence for innovation is strong.

The challenge now is execution

We must move from innovation as a series of pilots, to innovation as a core part of how the NHS delivers care. That means designing for adoption from the outset, aligning with the Major Conditions and the 10-Year Health Plan, and being willing to make the decisions required to deliver long-term value.

Most importantly, it means keeping patients at the centre of everything we do.

Because if we get this right, innovation will not just transform services, it will transform outcomes. Delivering more years of healthy life, reducing inequalities, and ensuring that every patient, regardless of where they live, can benefit from the very best that the NHS has to offer.

That is what delivering innovation at scale truly means.

If we can do this, innovation will move beyond isolated pilots and become a true driver of patient-centred transformation – delivering lasting healthy returns for individuals, communities, and the health system as a whole.

This article was authored by Boehringer Ingelheim. pharmaphorum retained full editorial control and final approval rights.

About the author

Maria Tereno, country general manager and head of human pharma, Boehringer Ingelheim UK and Ireland, is a seasoned business executive with extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Her career spans global and local responsibilities in marketing, commercial strategy, and product launches. Tereno is deeply committed to fostering a culture grounded in purpose, collaboration, and integrity – values that have guided her leadership throughout her career. Born in Brazil and a graduate of the Rotman School at the University of Toronto, Tereno speaks five languages and lives in the UK with her family.