The NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) – an NHS England initiative delivered in partnership with England’s 15 Academic Health Science Networks and the Accelerated Access Collaborative – has launched its call for applications representing high impact, evidence-based innovations.
What is the NHS Innovation Accelerator?
Hosted at UCLPartners, the NIA support delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan priorities by accelerating uptake of high impact innovations for patient, population and NHS staff benefit, and providing real time practical insights on spread to inform national strategy.
Launched in 2015, the NIA is chaired by Professor Stephen Powis, National Medical Director.
Who should apply to the NIA?
The NIA call is open to all types of innovation (including digital, medtech, workforce and models of care) and welcomes applicants across a range of professional backgrounds (including clinical, academia, SMEs, large corporates, public-sector, charitable, and not-for-profit organisations).
The NIA particularly welcomes female applicants and applicants from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, as they are currently underrepresented amongst our Fellows.
The NIA does not support start-up or early-stage innovations. It supports mature innovations with an existing evidence base, already being used in the NHS or elsewhere, to spread. In doing so, the NIA captures and shares real-world insight, learning and expertise on how to spread new solutions across the NHS in England.
The NIA is an NHS England initiative delivered in partnership with England’s 15 Academic Health Science Networks and the Accelerated Access Collaborative. It supports individuals and their evidence-based innovations to scale across England’s NHS.
To apply, you should be able demonstrate the following:
- Significant outcomes for significantly lower cost
- An evidence-base for your innovation that shows it is ready to be diffused across the NHS
- A personal set of strong values as well as a passion for learning and sharing your insight widely
- A commitment to scaling evidence-based innovations for patient and population benefit
- A commitment to understanding health inequalities and to improving equity of access, experience and outcomes through innovation.
Additionally, the NIA is looking for innovations that address urgent and emergency care.
The call is open to local, national and international healthcare innovations supported by passionate individuals from any background, including SMEs, clinicians, charity/third sector and academics.
For the 2023 intake, the NIA is seeking innovations that align with the NHS Core20Plus5 manifesto while addressing key theme areas of elective recovery and operational challenges post-pandemic.
Therapy areas of interest, as outlined in Core20Plus5, are:
- Maternity
- Mental health and severe mental illness
- Cancer
- Respiratory disease
- Hypertension and cardiovascular disease
Additionally, the NIA is looking for innovations that address urgent and emergency care.
All applicants must be able to demonstrate how their innovation actively alleviates health inequalities in practice.
The application period will close at 11.59pm on 28 October 2022.
All applicants must be able to demonstrate how their innovation actively alleviates health inequalities in practice.
Innovators from all genders, ethnicities and backgrounds are encouraged to apply for our accelerator. We know that many groups have been underrepresented in our past cohorts and we are keen to move toward a cohort of Fellows that better represents the diversity of the people served by the NHS.
All details on the application process, including access to the application portal, are available on the NHS Accelerator ‘Apply’ page: bit.ly/ApplyNIA