Annual impact report 2025-26 Transforming lives through innovation ◀ Introduction Our portfolio Hospital to community Sickness to prevention Analogue to digital Our work in 2026-27 Partner with us ▶ Year in review The past year has been a period of significant change across the health and care system, alongside renewed national ambition for the NHS. At the heart of this is a clear focus on three long-term shifts: from analogue to digital, from hospital to community, and from sickness to prevention. Innovation represents one of the greatest opportunities to deliver these shifts and secure the future sustainability of the NHS. It can also play a major role in driving economic growth across the UK. A recent Health Innovation Network report suggests that healthcare innovation could boost the UK economy by £278bn each year. Unlocking the full potential of innovation requires strong collaboration and effective system partnerships at both local and national levels. This is the unique strength of the 15 health innovation networks, whose role is explicitly recognised in the NHS 10 Year Health Plan and the Life Sciences Sector Plan. In the past year alone, 2.1 million patients have benefited from the Network’s national and local programmes and together, we have created or safeguarded over 1,500 jobs and leveraged almost £1.5bn in investment nationally [1]. Throughout 2025–26, Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex (Health Innovation KSS) has continued to play a vital role within this national network – supporting NHS priorities, working alongside local systems, and connecting partners across health, care, academia, industry and the life sciences sector. We serve a population of approximately 5 million people across a diverse geography of coastal communities, rural areas and urban centres, with a growing and ageing population. These factors can contribute to health inequalities, and we are committed to ensuring the benefits of innovation are felt by everyone – not just those who are easiest to reach. Over the past year, we have begun to frame our work more clearly around the three shifts: Analogue to digital – from evaluating ambient voice technology and supporting pilots of virtual wards, to supporting the creation of innovation hubs and co-design of a social licence for data usage across an Integrated Care System (ICS), we’ve helped modernise care delivery and improve efficiency through technology. Hospital to community – from evaluating a population risk stratification tool and producing a new pathway to support personalised care for people with heart failure and frailty, to supporting implementation of WorkWell service pilots to help people stay in or return to work, and identifying and evaluating innovations that can support care in the community in areas such as dementia and mental health. Sickness to prevention – including supporting systems and services to be safer by addressing overprescribing and supporting safer management of impacted fetal health (IFH), we’ve worked on national and local programmes which support proactive health measures to help people live longer, healthier lives. We would like to thank our commissioners and partners for their continued trust and collaboration. The year ahead marks a pivotal moment as we accelerate delivery for the NHS. We will build on what we have learned in 2025 – 26, deliver our new national programmes, further strengthen our partnerships and continue to accelerate the spread of innovation across Kent and Medway, Surrey and Sussex – we look forward to working with you. Professor Hatim Abdulhussein CEO Jane Ollis Chair [1] National Health Innovation Network Statistics 2025-26 #1. Our portfoilo In 2025-26, we worked on national, regional and local programmes commissioned by NHS England and the Office for Life Sciences (OLS) and delivered a growing range of third-party partnerships Supporting innovators Commissioned by the Government’s Office for Life Sciences (OLS) and NHS England, we support health and care businesses and individual innovators to help realise the potential of their ideas and to further develop their products for adoption and spread across our local footprint and nationally. We seek to find, test, implement and scale the most promising innovations to meet the needs and priorities of our local systems. From horizons scans, to real-world evaluations, in 2025-26, we have made a significant contribution to economic growth through our advice and guidance service to all innovators, and our targeted support of high growth innovators who match local needs. Case study Scaling acute virtual wards: generating real‑world evidence at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Read case study National programmes The Health Innovation Network combines national coordination with specialist, boots-on-the-ground implementation expertise and deep local relationships to deliver local change with national impact. In addition to our OLS funding to support innovators, the Network also receives core commissions from NHS England and the Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC). As a local Health Innovation Network this year we have worked in partnership with a range of stakeholders across the Kent and Medway, Surrey and Sussex regions to deliver programmes across multiple disease and focus areas such as cardiovascular disease, mental health, medicines optimisation and digital, data and AI. Case study Supporting more personalised care for people with heart failure and frailty Read case study Patient Safety Collaborative The Health Innovation KSS Patient Safety Collaborative (PSC) plays an important role in delivering the National Patient Safety Improvement Programmes. Its aim is to support systems to test and spread effective safety interventions and strategies, learn from excellence and continually improve and this year we have delivered programmes in maternity and neonatal safety, managing deterioration, including Martha’s Rule delivery, and medicines safety. Case study Strengthening team culture to improve perinatal and maternity safety Read case study I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved this year. This report highlights the breadth of our work – from supporting innovators and delivering national programmes, to working in close partnership with our local systems to respond to their priorities. Over the past year, we have supported more than 446 innovators to develop and scale their solutions, while programmes such as our Patient Safety Collaborative continue to play a vital role in improving safety and spreading best practice across our region. We have also worked with partners to deliver initiatives such as the Frailty‑First pathway for heart failure, helping to support more personalised, community-based care. Lisa James Chief Operating Officer Working with local partners Beyond our national commissions, we partner with our regional health and care leaders to identify and address priority areas for innovation. We co-designed delivery plans and programmes of work to support the local needs of three Integrated Care Boards (ICBs): NHS Kent and Medway ICS, NHS Surrey Heartlands Health and Care Partnership, and NHS Sussex Health & Care, and adapted these as Surrey and Sussex ICBs merged in April 2026. Case studies Supporting people with health conditions to stay in or return to work Working with NHS Sussex to explore how a WorkWell service could be developed locally to support working‑age adults whose health affects their ability to work. Case Study 29 Jun 2026 More Accelerating successful and safe adoption of ambient voice technology across health and care A coordinated programme of work to support the safe, evidence‑based adoption of Ambient Voice Technology (AVT) in health and care. Case Study 30 Jun 2026 More Building public trust in health data: co‑designing a social licence for Kent and Medway Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS) worked with NHS Kent and Medway to co design a social licence for the use of health and care data. The social licence is a clear, community shaped commitment that sets out how data should be used across the Integrated Care System (ICS). Case Study 30 Jun 2026 More ← → Translating research into action Translational research involves ensuring that promising innovations identified through research are put into practice. This can include digital tools, service redesigns or new models of care. This year we have partnered with ICSs, NHS trusts, local authorities, universities, communities, industry, and the voluntary and community sector to help researchers share their latest evidence with people who can use it and maximise the impact of their research. Case study Intercultural awareness Read case study It’s been a significant year for our translational research work, with strong progress in ensuring that evidence and innovation are translated into meaningful improvements in care. By working closely with partners across health, care, academia and industry, we are helping to bridge the gap between research and practice. Our work this year has spanned priority areas including mental health, women’s health, and population health and inequalities. Through this continued focus on applying evidence in real-world settings, we are helping to improve outcomes for patients and communities across Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Dr MaryAnn Ferreux Chief Medical Officer #2. Three shifts Innovation is at the heart of delivering the government’s three shifts for health and social care, and our work this year has made great strides in these areas. Hospital to community Innovation is central to providing continuous, accessible and integrated care. This year, we’ve supported our local systems in shifting care closer to home to better support people in their communities. Case study Helping people with health conditions to stay in or return to work Poor health is one of the biggest reasons people leave or struggle to enter work, yet support is often fragmented and difficult to access. Working with NHS Sussex, we led a discovery programme to understand the real barriers people face when managing health conditions and employment. By engaging more than 80 stakeholders and people with lived experience, mapping local systems and identifying gaps in support, we developed recommendations that shaped three locally tailored WorkWell initiatives. Read full case study Case study Supporting more personalised care for people with heart failure and frailty When frailty and heart failure occur together, treatment decisions become more complex and the risk of poorer outcomes increases. We worked with experts from multiple health systems to develop a practical pathway that helps clinicians put frailty first when assessing and managing people with heart failure. The result is treatment decisions that are balanced with an individual’s overall health, risks and priorities. Already adopted beyond our region and recognised nationally within the Health Innovation Network Heart Failure Blueprint, this work is helping to improve patient care and better long-term outcomes. Read full case study Case study Reducing avoidable hospital admissions for people living with dementia Every year, thousands of people living with dementia experience hospital admissions that could potentially be avoided, often leading to distress, confusion and a loss of independence. We led a national programme on behalf of the Health Innovation Network to identify innovations with the greatest potential to reduce avoidable hospital admissions by 30% by 2029. Assessing more than 100 solutions and engaging people living with dementia, carers and professionals, we identified eight innovations ready for adoption across health and care systems. Read full case study More on hospital to community Evaluating digital enhanced cognitive behaviour therapy for eating disorders Digital enhanced cognitive behaviour therapy (Digital CBTe) is a digital intervention for people experiencing binge eating disorder. Digital CBTe was piloted at two NHS sites: the Dorset All-Age Eating Disorders Service piloted the self-help model and Kent and Medway All-Age Eating Disorders Service piloted a guided self-help model. Case Study 29 Jun 2026 More New free Intercultural Awareness Online Course and Guide to support practitioners working with children, young people and families seeking asylum or with refugee status A new free Intercultural Awareness Guide and CPD-accredited online training course designed for midwives, health visitors and school nurses working with families seeking asylum or with refugee status. News 28 Apr 2026 More New resource launched to support innovation for neurodivergent young people in youth justice A new resource exploring how needs-led, trauma-informed innovation can better support neurodivergent children and young people in contact with the youth justice system. News 21 Apr 2026 More Evaluation: Sussex Population Health Academy builds skills to improve health equity An independent evaluation has highlighted the far-reaching benefits and positive impact of an initiative to improve health equity in the Sussex health and care system. News 28 Jan 2026 More ← → Sickness to prevention We’ve worked on national and local programmes which support proactive health measures to help people live longer, healthier lives, while tackling health equity to help reduce gaps in healthy life expectancy. Case study Avoiding brain injury in childbirth: supporting safer management of impacted fetal head across Kent, Surrey and Sussex Impacted Fetal Head (IFH) is a high risk childbirth emergency associated with serious harm to babies and distress for families and staff. Delivered as part of the national NHS England Avoiding Brain Injury in Childbirth (ABC) programme, we supported training of maternity teams across Kent and Medway, Surrey and Sussex to improve the safe management of IFH. 0 per cent of maternity Trusts are engaged in the programme (nine Trusts, across 13 sites) 0 senior clinicians have completed regional train the trainer education and are cascading training locally Read full case study Case study Repeat Prescribing Toolkit: supporting safer, more efficient repeat prescribing in primary care We helped primary care teams across our regions to introduce the Repeat Prescribing Toolkit (RPT) to tackle inefficiencies, safety risks and significant medicines waste. This work plays an important role in preventing avoidable harm, by ensuring patients receive the right medicines, at the right time and supporting safer long-term management of conditions so people can stay well for longer. Read full case study Case study Risk stratification and proactive care in NHS Sussex We helped NHS Sussex to evaluate the Johns Hopkins Adjusted Clinical Groups (ACG) risk stratification tool. The independent evaluation explored how the tool could better identify people living with frailty and high complexity needs, and how this information could support proactive care in primary care and neighbourhood teams. Compared with the electronic Frailty Index plus (eFI+), early findings suggest the Johns Hopkins ACG tool offers improved identification of priority patients. This work provides evidence to inform future approaches to admissions avoidance, proactive care and long term chronic disease management. Read full case study More on sickness to prevention Transforming school mental health: The Whole School and College Approach Leading the research and development of resources to support the Whole School and College Approach to mental health. Case Study 30 Jun 2026 More Strengthening team culture to improve perinatal and maternity safety A year-long perinatal culture and leadership programme helped maternity and neonatal teams across the region understand — and act on — the link between team culture, leadership and patient safety. News 13 May 2026 More Transforming public health through user-centric design: Highlights from our innovation workshop The Transforming Public Health Through User-Centric Design event explored a key question: how can we better support healthy weight across our communities in Kent and Medway? Blog 9 Dec 2025 More Helping Sussex take a new approach to polypharmacy Principal pharmacist Helena Stimpson discusses how the Health Innovation Network’s polypharmacy programme influenced her team’s approach to structured medicine reviews (SMRs), and how she is sharing what she learnt in Sussex. Blog 5 Aug 2025 More Helping Kent, Surrey and Sussex approach polypharmacy – success and resources As the Health Innovation Network’s Polypharmacy: Getting the Balance Right programme draws to a close, we reveal its impact in Kent, Surrey and Sussex, and share resources to keep the momentum going. News 5 Nov 2025 More ← → Analogue to digital Innovation is key to achieving the government’s ambitions for the NHS and will help to create the most digitally accessible health system in the world. We’ve supported the evaluation and spread digital technologies to modernise care delivery and improve efficiency in the region. Case study Accelerating successful and safe adoption of ambient voice technology across health and care Ambient Voice Technology (AVT) can reduce the time healthcare professionals need to spend on documentation and administrative tasks, freeing up time for patients. However, adoption across health and care systems has been cautious. We led a coordinated programme of work to support the safe, evidence‑based adoption of AVT. This includes two independent evaluations of AVT tools in real‑world settings, and the publication of an implementation guide for health and care settings. The eight-week assessment of Beam Notes with Kent County Council’s Adult Social Care team revealed that AVT improved timesaving and accuracy: 0 average hours saved writing up notes per assessment (48%) 0-9.1 positive feedback score out of ten from staff on the quality of conversations they had with people drawing on care and support 0% average reduction in time taken to submit assessments, going from 5 to 3 days Read full case study Case study Scaling acute virtual wards: generating real world evidence at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Virtual wards are helping more patients receive acute care at home, with more than 12,000 virtual ward beds now in operation across England. As these models expand, there is a growing need for robust evidence to understand their impact in real-world settings. We supported Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust to evaluate an established acute virtual ward model using Luscii’s remote monitoring platform. Funded through the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), the project generated valuable evidence on patient outcomes and service delivery, while helping to develop a blueprint that could support the wider adoption of acute virtual wards across the NHS. The independent evaluation by Unity Insights demonstrated: 0 mean reduction hospital days per patient 0% of respondents in staff surveys felt the service led to better patient outcomes and more timely interventions 0% of post admission patients agreed that receiving care at home was positive for their wellbeing Read full case study Case study SECAmb call handling: improving decision‑making and efficiency in emergency call management As demand for urgent and emergency care continues to rise, South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) needed new ways to improve patient flow, support staff and make better use of clinical expertise. We worked with the Trust to identify opportunities to support a structured review of emergency call handling processes across the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) and Unscheduled Care Navigation Hubs. Through process‑mapping workshops and an eight‑week scoping project, we helped SECAmb understand how calls are currently managed, identify pressures and inefficiencies in the call stack and explore how digital and workforce changes could support faster, safer clinical decision‑making. The work resulted in a set of evidence‑based recommendations and options appraisals (formal assessment of the available options) to inform future investment and improvement. Read full case study More on analogue to digital GP registration tool cuts paperwork, reduces costs and improves patient data A new independent evaluation shows GP registration tool Healthtech-1 delivers operational efficiencies, greater accuracy and economic value to health systems. News 1 Jun 2026 More Developing an innovation hub blueprint to support digital, data and AI innovation Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS) worked with Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT) to support the development of a practical blueprint for an Innovation Hub. Case Study 29 Jun 2026 More Building public trust in health data: co‑designing a social licence for Kent and Medway Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS) worked with NHS Kent and Medway to co design a social licence for the use of health and care data. The social licence is a clear, community shaped commitment that sets out how data should be used across the Integrated Care System (ICS). Case Study 30 Jun 2026 More Surrey AI Roundtable Series: Co-designing a blueprint for safe and scalable AI adoption in Surrey Heartlands The Surrey AI Roundtable Series brought together over 50 stakeholders from healthcare, academia, and industry to co-develop a strategic blueprint for responsible AI adoption. Case Study 3 Jul 2025 More Supporting consistent, high-quality clinical reasoning in Kent and Medway Evaluating how the DemDx intelligent clinical assessment platform can improve the speed, quality and safety of clinical assessments. News 21 Apr 2026 More Built on lived experience: a menstrual health app Findings from focus groups run by Health Innovation KSS and 28X are helping shape a more inclusive, trusted menstrual health app. News 23 Mar 2026 More Frontline teams across Kent & Medway design real-world digital solutions at 2026 Hackathon Frontline health and care teams from across Kent and Medway came together for a full day of rapid innovation at the 2026 ICS Hackathon - turning real system challenges into working digital prototypes using no‑code and low‑code platforms. News 12 Mar 2026 More New national Agentic AI initiative launched for health and care TrustX Health is a pioneering initiative created to verify, deploy and test Agentic AI safely across health and care settings. News 10 Dec 2025 More Learner+: Enhancing GP Trainees’ reflective practice with an AI-powered tool CMEfy and Health Innovation KSS undertook a pilot study with 24 GP trainees to evaluate Learner+, an AI-enhanced reflective platform designed specifically to facilitate real-time clinical learning. Case StudyNews 5 Nov 2025 More ← → #3. Our work in 2026-27 Our 2026-27 portfolio spans national, regional and local programmes commissioned by NHS England and the Office for Life Sciences and a growing range of third-party partnerships. 2026-27 will be another year of innovation, collaboration and impact. We will continue to support delivery of the three shifts in the NHS 10 Year Health Plan through a range of nationally commissioned programmes, regional and local initiatives, and an expanding portfolio of third-party partnerships, helping to bring effective innovations into health and care at scale. Our national programmes focus on chronic kidney disease, diabetes care, the NHS App, AI-supported note-taking and obesity. Our regional programmes will target health and employment, digital inclusion, elective care and frailty, among others. We will continue to support innovators through our Innovation Exchange, helping their solutions reach the NHS, and improve safety through our Patient Safety Collaborative. We are expanding partnerships with organisations across the life sciences and pharmaceutical sectors to improve health and care. Combining our system-wide networks, the Kent, Medway and Sussex Secure Data Environment (SDE), and the research expertise of NIHR ARC KSS enables us to use real-world data and independent evaluation to improve care pathways in areas such as cardiovascular, renal and metabolic health. Preventing illness and disease is key to reducing health inequalities and is at the heart of the NHS Long Term Plan. Our teams are exploring new ways to fund prevention and early intervention. By bringing together partners from health, academia and the investment community, we are developing models that link funding to measurable improvements in population health, helping people stay healthier for longer and reducing future pressure on services. People and communities remain at the heart of everything we do. We want to involve as many people as possible in shaping research and innovation to improve lives and ensure better care for all. This year, we will continue to strengthen our work with people and communities, helping teams embed community voices and lived experience throughout the lifecycle of our work. In autumn 2026, we’ll launch our 2030 strategy, setting out how we will deliver these priorities in practice. Examples of projects and programmes of work coming in 2026 - 27 include: Advancing early detection in endometrial cancer Working in partnership with Surrey and Sussex Cancer Alliance, we are supporting the real-world evaluation of AG Health’s WID®-easy test - a diagnostic innovation designed to detect endometrial cancer through a simple cervicovaginal swab. Delivered by Unity Insights across four clinics at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, the evaluation will generate evidence to inform future adoption. Findings are expected in summer 2026. Transforming diabetes care through Hybrid Closed Loop (HCL) Technology The diabetes outpatient transformation national programme, delivered in collaboration with system partners, will accelerate and sustain equitable access to hybrid closed loop technology for people with type 1 diabetes, using this as a catalyst for wider service redesign. Alongside increasing uptake and reducing variation in access, the programme will support the development of end-to-end care pathways, workforce readiness, and more efficient, digitally enabled outpatient models, including remote monitoring and risk-stratified care. By improving data capture and supporting national evaluation, it aims to enhance patient outcomes, experience and autonomy, while reducing emergency activity and supporting more sustainable, proactive diabetes care. Proactive, neighbourhood models for respiratory care The respiratory transformation programme will support a step change in care for people with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) over a two-year period. Through four key workstreams it will accelerate the adoption of guideline-led, proactive models of care and reduce variation in access to advanced therapies. By strengthening early diagnosis, risk stratification and system readiness, the programme aims to improve outcomes, reduce avoidable hospital admissions and support more equitable, data-enabled respiratory care. Scaling intercultural awareness training Building on strong early impact, in 2026–27 we will scale our intercultural awareness training to different professional groups and settings. Resources and learning will be shared through the SE Migration Partnership and NHSE Migrant Health Lead via Strategic Migration Partnerships nationally, and at the International Migrant Health Conference and Royal College of Nursing International Nursing Research Conference in Glasgow (both September 2026). Supporting safer maternity care The Avoiding Brain Injury in Childbirth (ABC) programme continues across Kent, Surrey and Sussex in 2026-27, supporting safer maternity care through multidisciplinary training in impacted fetal head and intrapartum fetal deterioration. Delivery will focus on site‑based support, shared learning and sustainable implementation, alongside expansion to include the Intrapartum Fetal Deterioration (IFD) tool through a face‑to‑face launch and Train‑the‑Trainer approach. New Working with People and Communities (WWPC) strategy We are launching a new WWPC strategy to strengthen how people and communities shape our programmes and business planning. Through meaningful engagement with people with lived experience, we aim to improve health outcomes, reduce health inequalities and ensure innovation reflects the needs of the communities we serve. The strategy will be supported by volunteer employee Public Involvement Champions, staff training and stronger partnerships with communities, VCSE organisations, and health and care partners #4. Partner with us Together, we can make innovation happen. Across Kent and Medway, Surrey and Sussex, we work with partners to test, scale and spread innovation where it can make the biggest difference. Learn how you can partner with us to accelerate innovation, redesign care pathways and deliver change at scale. "The greatest transformation of health and care will come from working together. By connecting the right partners around proven ideas, we can use innovation as a catalyst for better outcomes. Prevention is one of the biggest opportunities we share. Helping people age well, reduce frailty and stay healthier for longer, benefits individuals and the system alike. Together, we can build a more resilient and responsive health and care ecosystem, solving today's problems and shaping what comes next." Chris Hill Chief Commercial Officer How we can work together: Innovators: We can help you to refine your proposition, prove your innovation works in the real-world and connect you with the right implementation partners. Health and care teams: We can help you to solve your biggest challenges through innovation. By providing hands-on implementation support, minimising risk and maintaining patient safety throughout. Researchers and academics: We can help you to translate high-impact research into practice, accelerating innovations that improve health outcomes and reduce inequalities. Partners: We work across the full health and care landscape, with life science and technology companies, commissioners and local communities. Whether you need support solving a challenge through innovation, translating policy into practice, accelerating uptake or finding the right partners for your project, we want to hear from you. Ready to transform lives through innovation? Get in touch Stay up to date and in the loop Sign up to our Collaborate newsletter to receive the latest health and care news, opportunities and events. Subscribe