Here’s what you need to give the
7 key stakeholders in NHS health innovation

No single person decides whether the NHS adopts a health innovation. Many stakeholders will provide input; each has their own priorities. Any one of them can stall a good idea if their needs go unmet. Understanding who they are – and what they actually want – is often the difference between a pilot that spreads and one that quietly ends. 

 

Why does stakeholder alignment make or break adoption? 

The NHS is a system of systems. An innovation that clears one hurdle can fail at the next if the right people weren’t brought along on the journey. Clinicians may love a tool that finance won’t fund. Finance may back a tool that clinicians won’t use. Adoption depends on alignment across the whole group, rather than the enthusiasm of any one group of stakeholders. 

 

Who are the stakeholders – and what does each one need? 

Commissioners and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) hold the budget and decide what gets funded. Since July 2022, 42 integrated care systems have planned most local NHS care in England. They need clear evidence of outcomes, value for money, and a fit with system priorities. 

Provider organisations and trusts deliver the change on the ground. They need to know it’ll work within existing services, systems and staffing. 

Clinicians are the frontline adopters. They need to trust the clinical benefit, and they need the innovation to save time rather than add to the workload. 

Patients and the public are the reason it matters. They need better outcomes, fair access, and a say in how care changes. 

Information governance, clinical safety and IT teams protect the system. They need assurance on data protection, clinical safety and interoperability – the ground that the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC) covers. 

Finance and procurement manage the money and the contracts. They need a credible budget impact case and a clear route to purchase. 

National bodies shape the wider landscape. NICE sets the evidence bar, the MHRA regulates devices, and the Health Innovation Networks (formerly AHSNs) and the Accelerated Access Collaborative support adoption and spread. 

 

Where does this usually go wrong? 

Most often, innovators speak to one audience and assume the rest will follow. A strong clinical case lands well with clinicians but says nothing to finance. A polished cost model convinces commissioners but ignores the IT team who must integrate it. The result is an innovation that wins the room, and stalls everywhere else. 

Transformation leads face the mirror image. They can see the system need clearly, yet struggle to translate it into terms each stakeholder will back. 

 

How a neutral bridge helps 

This is where an independent voice earns its place. Future Care Capital is an independent partner working at the intersection of health innovation, evaluation, and impact investment. Because we sit outside the transaction, we can speak to every part of the system without an agenda – and help each side hear the other. 

We help innovators map the stakeholders who matter, understand what each one needs, and build a case that answers them all. We help transformation leads turn a system need into a proposition the whole table can support. The aim is the same on both sides: to help good health innovations reach the people who need them. 

If you’re working to align a health innovation with the system around it, we can help. Contact Dr Lauren Evans at lauren@futurecarecapital.org.uk.