NIHR and the Office for Life Sciences (OLS) have funded seven new research projects aimed at bringing new technologies into the NHS to benefit patients.
Health innovation provides critical solutions to key challenges faced by the health system, and as part of the health and growth missions action is being taken across government to ensure this innovation makes it into the hands of patients who need it.
The seven projects funded include research into digitally-enabled cognitive behavioural therapies, digital tools to support weight loss and low back pain and Virtual Reality therapy for severe mental health difficulties. These products have been identified as promising medical technologies that meet a national unmet need, with the potential to have most impact and add value to patients and the health and care system.
The funded teams will be gathering real world evidence for their products. This will help to accelerate adoption of these technologies, which have been recommended for early use in the NHS through the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Early Value Assessment and contribute to creating an NHS fit for the future.
The funding aims to help make the UK a leading testbed for early-stage health innovations. It will allow researchers and companies to generate the evidence needed to achieve full NICE guidance, and to accelerate uptake in the NHS so that patients can benefit sooner.
Professor Mike Lewis, NIHR’s Scientific Director for Innovation, said: “The UK is a hotbed of innovation, but the NHS sometimes misses out on the opportunity to adopt new digital technologies at scale. This competition gives seven organisations the chance to gather the real-world evidence to show impact and support their adoption at scale.”