More than a decade of innovating in the NHS has shown the Health Innovation Network what it takes to implement new ideas successfully. Their “Seven Conditions for Successful Innovation” is a guide for health tech suppliers and NHS partners alike. So, what are the essential ingredients, how do they work, and what happens when we put them to the test? Recorded over two days live at HETT Show 2025 and featuring a giant cast of innovation veterans, tech suppliers, opinion leaders and conference goers, these two unique special edition podcasts offer compelling insights for both innovators scaling products and intrapreneurial health care professionals, in an essential and comprehensive guide to successful health tech innovation. LINKS Follow Ministry of Health Tech on LinkedIn for community chat and news … https://www.linkedin.com/company/ministry-of-health-tech Register to our mailing list for early notice of upcoming Ministry events … https://mailchi.mp/6e8036301ba2/lgrvizlh6r Explainer video “Seven Conditions for Successful Innovation” … https://thehealthinnovationnetwork.co.uk/health-innovation-network-explainer/ Seven Conditions for Successful Innovation … 1. Think pathway not product. The implementation of innovation is almost always about complicated technologies being adopted within complex environments. This means that it is not helpful to only focus on adding a single “point solution” into an existing way of working. Instead take time to understand the whole pathway being affected by the solution, making sure that you explore the reality for the staff, the users and the organisations involved in delivering that service. Consider the cultural implications of change just as much as the technical requirements. 2. Develop an informed game plan. Work through the implementation end-to-end by drawing together trusted experts with practical experience to build a collective understanding of the change process – and importantly help you to identify and address any blind spots. The use of a framework can help this thinking to be systematic and simulation or scenario exercises can be particularly helpful. 3. Build coalitions not concerns.
Evidence collation is an opportunity to build a coalition for implementation. Consider who needs to be convinced, what evidence they are looking for, and how that evidence speaks to the genuine problems that they are actually facing. Disruptive innovation is alienating for those being disrupted, so work with early adopters to develop practical ‘how to’ examples; use trusted opinion leaders to amplify communication; and engage with royal colleges, patient groups, clinical bodies and other key stakeholders as early as possible. 4. Ensure there is demand not just supply.
Think how to create system ‘pull’. Work first where there is already natural demand for change; and consider the range of incentives that will help your project to stand out against the competing demands of other system requirements, or – even better – support the delivery of those other priorities. Where possible find ways to share the accountability for implementation with system leaders, and delivery organisations. 5. Link policy to problem-solving.
Anticipate and reduce barriers to implementation; and work closely with early adopters, commissioners and policy makers to solve problems together. Initial policy can be turned into early practice, but early practice must then refine policy. For example, this might include payments and funding rules, regulatory permissions, or planning guidance inclusion. Keep iterating so that impact influences policy which then influences impact and so on. 6. Amplify the signal against the noise.
Radical change and innovation can happen quickly, but is rarely the norm. We shouldn’t expect widespread uptake at speed where conditions don’t require, support, or allow it. However uptake can be best amplified when NHS priorities align with the promised impact of implementation. Think deeply about how the innovation will support the most pressing needs of the NHS. 7. Stay with the implementation.
Change takes time. Avoid simply moving on to the next thing. Be curious about what’s working and what’s not; and show appreciation for those doing the delivery. Above all, recognise that true transformation doesn’t end with the conclusion of a pilot; stay with the implementation until it is genuinely embedded as the default “business as usual” workflow. MUSIC & FX CREDITS V/O - Helen Phillips - https://www.helenphillipsvoice.com "Nowehere Land" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ “Pixel Island” by Eric Matyas, www.soundimage.org “Pixel Party” by Eric Matyas, www.soundimage.org “Inky and Blinky’s Band” by Eric Matyas, www.soundimage.org "Blippy Trance" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ "Dark Arts FX", Daniel Mumford, Imuno https://imuno.sourceaudio.com/album/8858841?o=track_number&d=a&pg=0&show=50
