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.

On Thursday 5^th March, Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS), NHS Kent & Medway, Cogniss and Aire Innovate hosted a full day of hands‑on digital innovation and rapid problem‑solving. Bringing together frontline health and care staff at Maidstone Academic Centre, the hackathon offered a unique opportunity to upskill in digital innovation and learn how to build a fully functioning app or workflow in a single day using either the Cogniss no‑code or Aire Innovate low‑code platform.

Eight multidisciplinary teams collaborated to design and develop solutions responding directly to real system challenges – creating tools shaped by the people who understand those challenges best. Concepts ranged from patient-facing apps (including tools to support stroke patients after discharge and support for upper‑limb amputees) to staff‑facing solutions designed to streamline theatre bookings, radiology workflows and administrative tasks.

A judging panel from the Kent & Medway Digital Innovation Board selected the winning prototype. The top‑scoring team from Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust, led by Nina Phoenix, developed Daily Spark – an app to help maintain activity and engagement on inpatient wards. The team has won 12 months of development support with Cogniss to turn their idea into a scalable, real-world solution.

“I was absolutely thrilled that our incredible team of Digital Champions won the chance to build our very own App – Daily Spark! I was joined on the day by our brilliant clinical Digital Champions Administrator, Allegria Luyindula, Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Sheeba Hakeem, Staff Nurses Patricia Mensah and Juley Shaji, and Occupational Therapist Assistant, Lucie Reading.

 

We explored so many creative ideas for what our App could be, but we ultimately chose something with real impact: a tool that helps keep activity and engagement going on our inpatient wards, even when Occupational Therapists aren’t available.

 

We’re excited to partner with Cogniss over the next 12 months.”

– Nina Phoenix, Chief Nursing and AHP Information Officer & Lead Digital Champion at Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust.

“It was fantastic to see so much creativity and problem solving from frontline colleagues at this year’s Kent & Medway Hackathon. Events like this demonstrate what’s possible when we give staff the opportunity to build solutions to the challenges they face every day.

 

Huge congratulations to the winning team from Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust, and my thanks to Health Innovation KSS, Cogniss, Aire Innovate and our judging panel for making the event possible.”

– Dr Mayur Vibhuti, Chief Clinical Information Officer NHS Kent & Medway ICB.

If you’d like to find out more about the event or how you can get involved in creating digital solutions to healthcare challenges, get in touch.