Why NHS innovation stalls

The latest episode of Digital Health Unplugged explores what it takes to successfully scale innovation in the NHS and why so many startups fail. Unplugged host Jordan Sollof is joined by Mindy Simon, co-director of the NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA), an initiative to support promising health innovations to spread across the NHS, and NIA alumni Elina Naydenova, co-founder and chief executive of HealthTech startup Feebris, They share insights on how to move digital health solutions from pilot to system-wide adoption, including the single most important factor in determining whether an innovation will scale. Drawing on Feebris’ experience delivering AI-enabled virtual care across more than 250 sites, Naydenova describes her journey in the NHS as a startup founder, including an example where a procurement process took 13 months, while full deployment across multiple hospitals and clinical pathways took just six weeks. The NIA will launch its latest cohort of fellows at Digital Health Rewired 2026, showcasing new health technologies and featuring 24 quick-fire pitches from the new fellows. Rewired 2026 takes place on 24-25 March at the NEC Birmingham. Register here. Guests: Mindy Simon, co-director at the NHS Innovation Accelerator Elina Naydenova, co-founder and chief executive of Feebris  

In the latest episode of Digital Health Unplugged, Marcus Baw calls for a rethink of NHS technology strategy, arguing that the service has drifted away from open source and in-house capability. Baw, a GP, clinical safety officer, clinical informatician and software engineer, criticises NHS England’s quiet removal of its open source policy webpages, dismissing the explanation that this was part of a routine website clean-up and that the NHS is now following government service standards. He also makes a strong case for in-sourcing software development, claiming that outsourcing increases costs and weakens the NHS’s technical capability. Baw also tells host Jordan Sollof, that the federated data platform is not delivering against its original ambitions and while adoption is growing, and expressed scepticism that changes at the top of NHS England would automatically lead to reform. Looking ahead, he says the NHS should consider building its own cloud infrastructure through NHS-based data centres to reduce reliance on commercial providers, lower compliance burdens and reuse waste heat to power hospital estates. Guest: Marcus Baw, GP, clinical safety officer, clinical informatician, and software engineer  

In this episode of Digital Health Unplugged, Judy Faulkner, founder and chief executive of Epic Systems, shares her journey from maths puzzles and early programming to building one of the world’s most widely-adopted electronic patient record (EPR) systems. Speaking to Tammy Lovell, editor at Digital Health, Faulkner reflects on how she started Epic in a basement in 1979 with a handful of programmers, with the company valued at $70,000. The US software giant has grown into the largest EPR vendor by market share, with its revenue estimated $5.7bn in 2024.  Epic's revenue is now an estimated $5.7bn in 2024, with the firm covering more than half of hospital patients in the US. It also recorded the biggest gain in the UK's EPR market between January 2024 and March 2025, now holding around 10% of the NHS acute trust market. Faulkner, who owns 43% of the firm, discusses her decision to remain privately held and mission-driven rather than answer to shareholders, and explains how her mother’s advice continues to influence her leadership. The conversation also explores Epic’s immersive approach to product development, how AI is being embedded across the system, and Faulkner's vision for a more preventive, accessible healthcare system. Epic will be at Digital Health Rewired, which takes place at the NEC in Birmingham on 24th-25th March 2026. Register here. Guest: Judy Faulkner, founder and CEO, Epic Systems 

The latest episode of Unplugged, in partnership with BridgeHead Software, explores why the NHS must move beyond ‘analogue to digital’ to ‘digitalised’. Digital Health Unplugged host Jordan Sollof is joined by Adam Coombes, product owner, HealthStore at BridgeHead Software, and Andy Meiner, founder of SI Squared, to examine the hidden barriers to interoperability. The pair argue that data only becomes useful when enriched with structure, standards and metadata, before discussing why paper is still so deeply embedded in NHS workflows. They then outline the practical strategies organisations can use to unify and operationalise their data to help deliver the ambitions of the NHS 10 year health plan. Lastly, Coombes and Meiner offer one mindset shift and one practical step that chief information officers and chief clinical information officers should take to move towards true digitalisation. Guest: Adam Coombes, product owner, HealthStore at BridgeHead Software Andy Meiner, founder of SI Squared  

In this episode of Digital Health Unplugged, Charlotte Refsum, director of health policy at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, explains why a single patient record is becoming increasingly important in the age of AI. Refsum tells Tammy Lovell, editor at Digital Health News, that as AI, data and digital technologies begin to reshape health systems, data unification is critical to support safer care, new models of delivery and a fundamentally different way of running the NHS. Drawing on her experience from the UK and health systems around the world, Refsum reflects on how digital could enable more integrated and preventative care, empower people to better manage their own health, and change the way patients interact with services through tools such as the NHS App. The conversation also explores the challenges standing in the way of this vision, including data sharing, public trust, interoperability and legacy systems, as well as discussing what to expect from the NHS 10 year health plan. Refsum will be delivering a keynote at Digital Health Rewired, to give her views on what comes next in the NHS’s shift to digitisation and prevention. The event is taking place at the Birmingham NEC on 24-25 March 2026. Free for NHS, public sector, charities, research and education. Commercial tickets start from £769+VAT. Register here. Guest: Charlotte Refsum, director of health policy at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change  

In the first episode Digital Health Unplugged episode of the year, Beverley Bryant, chief digital officer (CDO) across three trusts in Dorset, reflects on her involvement in a national rapid review of electronic patient record (EPR) programmes across acute NHS trusts. Bryant, who is CDO at University Hospitals Dorset, Dorset County Hospital and Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trusts,  joins Unplugged host Jordan Sollof to discuss the challenges organisations face at different stages of EPR implementation, and the considerations NHS leaders need to weigh as they move from planning to go-live and beyond. She shares how those insights are informing Dorset’s own EPR programme, as part of a county-wide digital strategy. The conversation goes on to explore the realities of AI adoption in healthcare, lessons learned from the Synnovis cyber attack, the balance between national digital priorities and local delivery, and why digital transformation needs to be owned beyond IT teams. Bryant also looks ahead to speaking at Digital Health Rewired 2026, which takes place at the Birmingham NEC on 24-25 March, where she will be joined on stage by Siobhan Harrington, chief executive at University Hospitals Dorset. Register here. Guest: Beverley Bryant, chief digital officer for Dorset Providers - University Hospitals Dorset, Dorset County Hospital and Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trusts  

In the latest episode of Digital Health Unplugged, Paul Jones, chief digital information officer (CDIO) at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, delves into the details of the 10 year health plan. In conversation with Jordan Sollof, podcast host, Jones discusses the digital ambitions in the government's 10 year plan and why they should not be treated as "a silver bullet" for efficiency. He also shares his views on plans for the single patient record, the federated data platform, and the use of AI in the NHS, before sharing the technology he's most excited about at Leeds. Jones also discusses the independent inquiry into repeated maternity failings at Leeds Teaching Hospitals and explains what the trust is doing to improve the service and how digital can support. Finally, he looks ahead to speaking at Digital Health Rewired 2026, which takes place at the Birmingham NEC on 24-25 March, and gives listeners a taste of what he'll be talking about at the event. Guest: Paul Jones, CDIO at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust  

On World Mental Health Day 2025, this powerful episode of Digital Health Unplugged delves into the importance of including the patient voice in the development of digital mental health technologies (DMHTs). Podcast host Jordan Sollof is joined by Holly Coole, senior manager for digital mental health at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), and Grace Gatera, a lived experience advocate with direct experience of trauma from surviving the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Coole discusses the three-year Wellcome-funded project she is leading, which aims to strengthen regulation and evaluation of DMHTs including apps, digital triage tools and virtual reality software. Joining from Rwanda, Gatera shares her first-hand understanding of mental health problems and the importance of including lived experience voices in digital mental health design and regulation. The two women are working together to ensure that DMHTs - including the use of AI - are effective, safe and take the needs of those who use them into account. Guests: Holly Coole, senior manager for digital mental health at the MHRA Grace Gatera, lived experience advisor from Rwanda with a global perspective on mental health access and the power of tech in underserved communities  

Ahead of speaking at Digital Health Rewired 2026, Dr Jennifer Dixon, chief executive at The Health Foundation, gives her views on the NHS 10 year health plan. In conversation with Digital Health Unplugged host, Jordan Sollof, Dixon stressed the importance of the 10 year health plan moving beyond ambition into clear actionable steps, particularly around digital transformation and service delivery. She discussed the need for a broader and more balanced approach to AI in healthcare which recognises the potential of the technology but avoids the hype that surrounds it. Dixon also shared her views on the value of the recently published NHS league tables, which have been criticised by some for being overly simplistic. Lastly, Dixon looks ahead to speaking at the next Rewired event, taking place at the Birmingham NEC on 24-25 March 2026. Guest: Dr Jennifer Dixon, chief executive at The Health Foundation  

Host Jordan Sollof is joined by the co-directors of the NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) to discuss how the NHS can attract female innovators and those from underrepresented groups. Mindy Simon and Jack Porter discuss how the NIA provides “wrap-around” support and acts as a bridge between innovators and the NHS. They then make clear that the NIA is encouraging and targeting applications from female innovators, black innovators and those from underrepresented backgrounds. In 2019, after revising their promotional language and approach, the NIA achieved 40% female innovators in that year’s cohort. In the last two years, the figure has fallen to 18% female innovators. Across the entire 10-year history of the NIA, there have only been two black innovators out of more than 100 fellows and around eight Asian innovators accepted into the programme. To address this, Simon explains how the NIA are refining how they communicate about the programme to ensure the wording attracts a wider and more diverse pool of applicants. In the episode Porter also highlights several success stories from NIA fellows, before reflecting on Rewired 2025, where the NIA launched its largest new cohort of fellows, with plans for an even bigger number when the accelerator launches again at Rewired 2026. Guests: Mindy Simon, co-director of the NHS Innovation Accelerator Jack Porter, co-director of the NHS Innovation Accelerator