HTN Now Awards 2025/26: Healthcare improvement and operations transformation

We’re delighted to present our finalists for the category of “Healthcare improvement/Operations transformation”.

ReStart Consulting Ltd: Clinical care record delivers outcome-driven digital transformation in South West Yorkshire

Overview: South West Yorkshire Partnership (SWY) addressed fragmented systems and legacy data through a partnership with ReStart. By implementing a clinical care record, digitising PROMs, and secure archives, SWY achieved operational improvements, streamlined clinical workflows and enhanced patient experience.

What happened? A 2015 merger of community and mental health services left the trust with fragmented clinical systems (RIO and SystmOne). Clinicians had no unified patient record, legacy data remained on a single ageing machine, and staff experienced duplication and inefficiencies as a result. ReStart were selected as SWY’s strategic interoperability partner, co-developing solutions including a unified, clinical record, delivering go-live within eight months and engaging with over 450 staff. It enabled RIO legacy data to remain accessible via the shared care record. Digital PROMs – IMX Outcomes was co-designed with clinicians in a matter of months and embedded seamlessly into workflows and SystmOne. Five to 15 minutes are saved per patient by providing instant access to archived records. Manual PROMs scoring and administrative duplication have been eliminated, and real-time access to complete patient information improves decision-making. Digital, easy-to-complete PROMs support engagement and reduced appointment administration, and there is a smoother transition across areas of care.

Deben Health Group PCN and Kynoby: PCN resilience through back-office automation and transformation

Overview: Collaborating with Kynoby delivered a scalable, AI augmented solution and transforming inefficient, inconsistent, and labour-intensive processing of clinical correspondence, repeat prescribing, and coding into a long-term strategic resilience within 6 months.

What happened? Kynoby established a fully operational, initial processing system for all incoming electronic correspondence (ECG, clinic letters, discharge summaries, etc.). The Kynoby platform intelligently processes and files documentation directly into the correct patient record within the clinical system. Its most significant breakthrough is the automatic application of accurate, consistent SNOMED codes to each letter. The automated processing of correspondence has led to a direct reduction in administrative workload by the equivalent of 1.5 full-time staff, virtually overnight. The system now automatically collates and prepares all electronic repeat prescription requests (ERPRs), making them instantly ready for clinical review and dispensing. This has streamlined a high-volume, time critical pathway, reducing delays, minimising the risk of error, and freeing up to 1 WTE in dispensary to date and clinical time. By automating and standardising coding, we have directly enhanced patient safety and improved the PCN’s ability to understand and meet population needs.

University of Miami: Provider Scorecard

Overview: Using Microsoft Power BI, a centralised provider dashboard was implemented to monitor KPIs, ensure data security, and enable drill-down insights. The initiative improved access, productivity, patient experience, transparency, and organisational performance across healthcare departments with measurable, sustained results.

What happened? The Provider Dashboard was created to establish a single, trusted source of truth for performance monitoring across the organisation. The dashboard consolidates key performance indicators across five critical domains: access, productivity, patient experience, surgical volume, and revenue. The dashboard dynamically adjusts content based on the user’s role within the organisation. Power BI enables connections to multiple data sources, supports advanced data modelling, and delivers interactive visualisations that accommodate both high-level executive views and detailed operational analysis. Schedule utilisation and fill rates increased by 10 percent, reflecting more effective use of available appointment slots. Visit volume increased by 22 percent, indicating improved access and operational efficiency. Senior leaders regularly review enterprise-level metrics to monitor performance trends and identify areas requiring intervention. Metrics such as “likelihood to recommend” provide valuable insight into patient satisfaction and perception of care.

Isla Health: From three days to ten minutes: Operations transformation to release capacity across 15 specialties at UHN

Overview: UHN and Isla digitised 15 specialties, empowering 10,620 patients to drive 30,227 submissions (76 percent patient-led). The efficiency gains are stark: paediatric epilepsy processing was cut from three days to ten minutes, and pain management from eight days to 1.5 days; a scalable blueprint for healthcare transformation.

What happened? Since July 2022, the project has moved from pilot to sustainable reality across 15 specialties, onboarding 163 clinicians. In paediatric epilepsy, processing patient-submitted videos of seizures took teams up to three days. Through the Isla platform optimisation, processing time has been slashed to just ten minutes for the 730 patients under care. In pain management, the average form return time decreased significantly from eight days to 1.5 days, with 4,183 patients managed on the digital pathway. Manual chasing was replaced with a “data-first” logic: consultants now utilise smart tagging (e.g., PTQ-3 responses) to filter waiting lists, ensuring interaction only with actionable data. In eye casualty, remote resolution telephone triage combined with digital image submission allowed remote diagnosis, reducing travel for short face-to-face appointments for over 2,990 patients. Clinical directors served as senior responsible officers to drive buy-in. The wider workforce was engaged through “iTea events” and digital champions forums, where staff could test technology and voice concerns.

Civica LTD: Transforming cancer pathways through operational excellence, digital integration and sustainable service improvement

Overview: Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust and Civica transformed cancer services by embedding Clinical Pathways as a single operational backbone. The long-standing partnership reduced duplication, reclaimed months of staff time, strengthened pathway oversight and enabled remote monitoring, delivering safer, more efficient care.

What happened? Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust has spent more than 15 years using Civica’s Clinical Pathways (Infoflex) as the operational engine behind its cancer services. The system supports referral capture and tracking, MDT coordination, CNS consultations, assessments and telephone contacts, treatment summaries. remote monitoring across multiple tumour groups, and real-time operational dashboards. One of the biggest operational gains has been the reduction in manual audits. Where teams once spent days validating CT waits, ENT referrals and other pathway checks, Clinical Pathways now provides a single, accurate source of truth. This shift has released hundreds of hours of staff time, reduced administrative pressure on CNS and admin teams, improved data quality and consistency, and enabled staff to redirect time back into care and patient support. Real-time dashboards give operational leads and managers a clear view of where patients are in their pathway and where delays may occur. The trust has successfully introduced remote monitoring across prostate, breast and lower GI cancers.

Think Healthcare (Focus Group): A training-first approach to primary care operations

Overview: By embedding call recording into its training and supervision model, Denny Cross reshaped daily operations, improved safety and reduced pressure on staff. Callback and improved oversight strengthened access and workflow, creating a scalable example of operational transformation in a high demand primary care setting.

What happened? High quality call recording became central to the practice’s training process. Every triage call handled by a trainee could now be reviewed in full. This created a structured, repeatable training process that was not possible before. For a practice with five to seven learners, this has had a major operational impact, reducing time lost to uncertainty and missed learning opportunities. After learning that the system supports live coaching, supervisors began planning how to use this to support early stage trainees. Callback was introduced and quickly became essential. It reduced repeated dialling, eased pressure during peak times and provided a more predictable flow of calls. Reliable recordings allowed managers to resolve complaints quickly and confidently. The telephony platform has transformed daily operations, particularly around training, staff safety and demand management. Patients experience a smoother route into care, reception staff feel safer and more supported, daily workflow is more stable, with demand spread more evenly across the day, and operational confidence has increased.

NEC Software Solutions x Swansea Bay University Health Board: OWLi – Driving operational efficiency in planned care pathways

Overview: OWLi revolutionises planned care operations by optimising orthopaedic waiting lists in Swansea Bay UHB. Through digital triage, risk profiling, and proactive patient engagement, OWLi reduces failed appointments, improves resource allocation, and enhances surgical throughput for thousands of patients.

What happened? OWLi began as a research project but quickly evolved into a live operational tool. A pilot phase saw 200 patients testing the platform, providing feedback on usability and communication. Patients, carers, and clinicians shaped improvements, including simplified registration and support for those with low digital literacy. OWLi linked with Swansea Bay’s prehabilitation services, enabling seamless referrals. Within 12 months, OWLi managed over 4,000 orthopaedic patients awaiting hip or knee replacement surgery. Clinicians reported improved efficiency, as OWLi flagged high-risk patients early, reducing wasted appointments and theatre time. Administrative burdens were reduced, 300 patients with Class III obesity were identified and supported – all optimised or on track for BMI targets, and 500+ health nudges were sent – prompting blood tests and checks for diabetes, hypertension, thyroid disorders, and anaemia. Crucially, OWLi is thought to have prevented over 500 failed pre-op appointments, saving significant clinical time and resources.

Eolas Medical: The AI answer engine for healthcare

Overview: Eolas Medical is an AI answer engine for healthcare, used at the point of care, to help clinicians access the information they need to make clinical decisions. We are trusted by over 500 healthcare teams and over 350,000 healthcare professionals.

What happened? Ask Eolas is a unique computer vision RAG-based search engine that visually grounds the responses to ensure a trusted response, where the clinician can see and easily access the reference source, even the context-specific source within the specific hospital you’re working in. Clinicians face a constant challenge in accessing the most current and relevant medical knowledge needed for informed decision-making. Eolas Medical directly addresses this challenge by centralising and streamlining access to vital information, including local guidelines, pathways, and educational resources, all within a single, easily accessible platform. By providing instant access to critical information, Eolas Medical empowers healthcare professionals to make faster, more informed decisions. Eolas Medical significantly reduces the time clinicians spend searching for information (80 percent reduction in time spent searching). This increased efficiency can allow them to focus more on direct patient care, improving productivity and resource allocation within healthcare organisations.

Better Ltd.: Universal Care Plan in the NHS App: Empowering patients with accessible, personalised care

Overview: The Universal Care Plan’s integration with the NHS App gives patients clear access to personalised care information through a unified record. Developed by London’s five ICSs and Better, it replaces fragmented plans, supports diverse conditions, enables patient input, improves safety and communication, and reduces duplication.

What happened? Originally focused on end-of-life care and palliative care planning, the UCP now supports people living with dementia, frailty, learning disabilities, autism, complex long-term conditions, sickle cell disease, and children with ongoing care needs. NHS App integration places the UCP directly in the hands of patients. Within months, patients had accessed their UCP over 200,000 times. The integration also generated 20,000 jump-offs to care plans in its first four months. Importantly, when patients discovered they did not yet have a plan, these interactions prompted conversations with clinicians, contributing to a record-breaking 4,200 new care plans created in July 2024. In end-of-life care, 70 percent of patients with a UCP achieve their preferred place of death. Unplanned admissions for this group have fallen to 30 percent, well below the national benchmark of 46 percent. Emergency teams report a marked improvement when patients present their plan through the NHS App, including faster decision-making, clearer understanding of wishes, and improved adherence to personalised preferences.

Health Diagnostics x Durham County Council: Durham Health Squad delivers mobile health & wellbeing services for the most vulnerable with Health Options®

Overview: County Durham’s Health Inequalities Funding supports the Health Squad initiative: three outreach teams delivering mobile health and wellbeing services to the most vulnerable. Health Diagnostics’ IT solution helps streamline the project’s coordination and delivery.

What happened? 91 percent of clients engaged have received a full health check assessment. Of those, 68 percent have been referred to, or from, GPs for identified risk factors including QRisk ≥ 10 percent, high cholesterol or BP. Durham Health Squad carries out health checks with individuals and sets personal goals which support individuals to address key determinants of ill-health. From April-September 2025, over 500 vulnerable people were engaged by the project. At the heart of the initiative is Health Options®, a tailored software solution created by Health Diagnostics (HD) designed to support patient-focused consultations. The follow-up consultations which, crucially, Health Squad provide, show evidence of reducing health inequalities. For example, of 500+ people engaged, 97 had a follow-up consultation within six months. At follow-up within six months, 61 percent had achieved their goal. Practicality is a key factor for outreach teams. As the system is web-based, it can be accessed and used on laptops and tablets. The system also pulls together a wide range of data points into ‘at a glance’ data dashboards.

Semble: Transforming private healthcare operations through connected workflows

Overview: Semble is the open, flexible platform built for private healthcare. To combat administrative burden, Semble Connect links healthcare organisations to 1,200+ external tools, no coding needed, eliminating costly integrations and fragmented workflows.

What happened? Trusted by over 14,000 professionals across 75 specialties, Semble already supports more than 9 million patients annually, facilitating over 21 million appointments. Recognising that clinicians rely on far more than one system to deliver care, Semble Connect is a secure integration layer that unifies over 1,200 external tools, from labs and diagnostics to finance, HR, CRM, and communication systems. The platform’s two-way integration automates routine tasks, enhances data flow and gives clinicians the time and clarity to focus on patients. Semble Connect’s easy set-up is designed to help clinics scale without the admin. Its intuitive workflow builder allows teams to create automated processes in hours, removing the need for expensive developer support. Once a workflow is built, it can be deployed across multiple clinics and locations. Referrals move to the right clinician automatically, new lab results surface instantly, and patient updates flow seamlessly between clinical and operational teams. The result is less pressure on clinicians, smoother coordination, and a safer experience for patients.

Innovel Ltd: LEAFix, setting a new standard in securing the airway through a purpose designed airway fixation device

Overview: LEAFix is a patented Class I airway fixation device designed to replace tape and tie practices in anaesthesia. By providing a standardised, hygienic, clinically engineered method for securing the airway, LEAFix improves patient safety, reduces injury risk, supports infection control, and delivers operational improvement.

What happened? LEAFix is a patented Class I airway fixation device compliant with EU MDR 2017/745, registered with the MHRA, listed with the FDA, and approved for use in additional regulated international markets. The device incorporates a Y shaped anchor design that secures to the mandible and maxilla, distributing pressure evenly and reducing tube movement. An angled section allows the device to conform naturally around the airway tube, while integrated perforations provide flexibility in application, enabling clinicians to adapt the technique without compromising security. At the core of LEAFix is an advanced foam acrylic adhesive selected to balance strong fixation with patient comfort. LEAFix is complemented by a dedicated Training Portal developed with clinical experts. Clinical feedback highlights reduced perioral injuries, improved stability during prolonged procedures, and increased confidence among theatre teams. Departments report LEAFix has improved how airways are secured, particularly in high risk cases where traditional tape and ties previously posed significant challenges.

Spirit Primary Care: Transforming Primary Care Through Clinically Led Digital Total Triage

Overview: Spirit Primary Care demonstrates how a clinically led, digital-first total triage model has transformed primary care operations, delivering measurable improvements in patient access, workforce sustainability, clinical safety, and system efficiency.

What happened? Spirit Primary Care implemented a digital-first, clinically led total triage model that transforms access from passive queue into active operational workflow. Patients submit an online request for care when it suits them. Requests are reviewed by experienced GPs and Care Navigators and routed to the most appropriate pathway. Key operational features include centralised triage decision-making, early clinical input to prioritise risk, demand stratification before appointment booking, and rapid resolution of low-complexity requests. Patients typically receive clarity on next steps within a maximum of 48 hours, removing uncertainty and repeated contact. The model resulted in a 40 percent increase in same-day urgent appointment availability, with 60–70 percent of online consultations resolved without a GP appointment. Comparing the last 8-weeks of 2025 with the same period in 2023 in one practice, 5,000 additional patients were seen. A 54 percent reduction in average waiting times was observed, and positive feedback on ease of access increased from 72 to 92 percent.