Primary Care Innovation Panel: Bridging innovation and general practice

Summary 

The Primary Care Innovation Panel, led by Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS), is a bi-monthly forum that connects general practice professionals with innovators to accelerate the adoption of impactful solutions. By showcasing innovations, sharing insights from pilots and evaluations, and identifying system needs, the panel strengthens the link between the innovation ecosystem and primary care. Over the past year, it has engaged more than 75 stakeholders and provided showcasing opportunities for 13 innovators, helping to align innovation with real-world challenges in general practice. 

Challenge 

Primary care faces mounting pressures with patients reporting frustrations around waiting times and access to care, while staff highlight concerns over working conditions and their ability to provide good quality care. Despite a growing number of digital and technological solutions, adoption in general practice remains inconsistent. A key barrier is the disconnect between innovators and frontline practitioners, which limits the spread of effective solutions. The Primary Care Innovation Panel was established to address this gap by creating a structured, collaborative space for dialogue, learning, and co-design. 

Approach 

The panel is facilitated by Health Innovation KSS’s Enterprise and Industry team and includes representation from across the three Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) in Kent and Medway, Surrey, and Sussex. Attendees include GPs, Practice Managers, Integrated Care Board (ICB) Leads, and Regional Leads. 

Key activities include: 

• Showcasing innovations: 13 innovators presented their solutions over the past year. 

• Needs articulation: A needs articulation exercise carried out in May 2024 identified workforce and demand levels as the top challenge facing primary care, with AI and automation as priority innovation areas. 

• Knowledge sharing: System representatives shared experiences from trials and pilots, enabling peer learning. 

• Roundtable: As an extension of the panel, an additional AI and Automation Roundtable was held to explore system readiness and innovation opportunities in primary care. The event was run by Health Innovation KSS and was attended by a broad range of leads from ICBs, Primary Care Networks (PCNs), practices, Health Foundation, NHS England and regional Health Innovation teams, together with Chief Clinical Informatics Officers (CCIOs), transformation leads and innovators. The roundtable enabled attendees to explore what primary care needs from the system (NHS E and ICBs) and innovators, to optimise the use of AI and automation. 

Impact 

So far, the panel has engaged over 75 stakeholders across six sessions (March 2024 – January 2025). It has facilitated connections between innovators and primary care leaders and supported the spread of innovations by showcasing real-world outcomes. Examples of two such innovations are Rapid Health’s Smart Triage, an autonomous patient triaging system, and Metadvice, an artificial intelligence (AI) precision clinical guidance tool. Through the panel Rapid Health and Metadvice were given a platform to update and share the findings from their respective evaluations gathering interest in potential spread opportunities across the region. The panel also supported Adora, a menopause support app, with its Innovate UK-funded project being deployed in Medway by bringing together stakeholders within primary care, who are now working on the project. 

Feedback from participants in the needs articulation exercise highlighted the value of the panel: 

• Relevance to primary care issues: 4.31/5 

• Usefulness for showcasing innovations: 4.38/5 

• Helpfulness in making introductions to innovators: 4.31/5 

• Support for sharing innovative approaches: 4.15/5 

“It has been exciting to work with the Health Innovation KSS team and the Primary Care Innovation Panel. Looking at solutions to the real problems we face in Primary Care and how to navigate these, it has also enabled the opportunity to co-design what works for us, which has been a positive experience.” — Sarah Leng, Medway Valley PCN Digital Transformation Lead

Spread and scalability 

The panel continues to run bi-monthly, responding to the needs and asks from the system, as well as providing a platform for innovators to showcase to primary care stakeholders. The panel continues to evolve in response to system needs, and the AI and Automation Roundtable demonstrated how the panel can extend into thematic deep dives, offering a flexible platform for targeted innovation engagement. 

Find out more 

If you are interested in joining the Primary Care Innovation Panel or want learn more, contact: 

• Jenny Partridge – jennypartridge@nhs.net 

• Matt Peach – matthew.peach@nhs.net