NHS England, the NHS Race and Health Observatory and the NHS Innovation Accelerator, have announced a targeted call for innovations addressing Core20PLUS5 health inequalities.
The Health Inequalities Targeted Call is open to applicants including SMEs, clinical entrepreneurs and academics, and is looking for innovations targeting maternity, sickle cell and elective care, which are already in use in at least one site, supported by an evidence base, and ready to spread across the NHS.
Applicants are asked to submit an application form, covering the nature of their innovation and the problem(s) it addresses, as well as including evidence of prior success and their strategy for scaling in the NHS. The process will see “a minimum of five assessors drawn from a range of perspectives including clinical, patient, commercial, health inequalities and implementation”, identifying “that there is no straightforward or obvious local mechanism for scaling” which would negate the need for the NHS to change from its usual practice in order to implement the proposed solution.
Some of the requirements for the innovations include that they should offer “significant outcomes for significantly lower cost”, and “a commitment to understanding health inequalities and to improving equity of access, experience and outcomes through innovation”.
In November last year, we highlighted a SBRI Healthcare funding programme aimed to support innovation in maternity care. The programme highlighted examples of projects that have been awarded funding, such as an AI solution to help diagnose perinatal PTSD; a digital product to support breastfeeding; and a platform to support women from marginalised communities and minority ethnic groups.
In September 2022, we also published a feature on an integrated sickle cell disease patient and research platform, which highlighted the experiences of inequality reported by sickle cell sufferers, and the importance of moving forward with innovative solutions that could help ensure their equality in the domain of health and elsewhere.
To learn more about the targeted call and how to apply, please click here.
