How to solve the adoption problem in healthcare innovation 

We spend billions on healthcare innovation each year – and innovation thrives when people are empowered to test, learn, and adapt. But systemic friction often causes even the most promising innovations to fail before they can create impact at scale; 80% of healthcare AI projects don’t progress beyond the pilot phase.  

According to one 2025 UCLPartners report, just 28% of digital health innovations assessed in the NHS have been successfully procured and scaled.  This highlights a persistent gap between innovation and implementation, a challenge that continues to limit system-wide impact.  The NHS Confederation (2024) found that only one in five digital innovations adopted in pilot sites are later commissioned at scale. 

A key challenge is the lack of focus on adoption and spread in national innovation programmes. Of 37 programmes offering funding in 2025, only 19% are dedicated to supporting adoption. 

Another challenge is unprecedented financial constraint. After years of efficiency drives and post-pandemic pressures, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are now expected to deliver transformation without new investment. For innovators, the stakes are high. The King’s Fund (2024) noted that Integrated Care Boards face real-term funding cuts of up to 3% per year due to inflation and efficiency demands, limiting their capacity for innovation investment. 

So how can we create safe, trusted environments where innovators can test and learn responsibly – to ultimately improve patient outcomes at scale? We need to rethink how innovation is nurtured and governed. 

1. Innovation requires psychological safety, transparency, and shared learning. 

Effective innovation management must address the systemic silos, short-term thinking, and resource constraints that prevent progress in health and care.  

Non-clinical innovations, for example, including technology to improve operational and administrative work, hold huge potential to improve productivity and free up healthcare professionals’ time – but are usually undervalued in favour of clinical innovations.  

Of 62 innovation support programmes identified by the Health Foundation, just one was focussed on non-clinical innovation, which ended in March 2025. NHS England’s Digital Maturity Index (2024) showed that non-clinical digital tools delivered average time savings of 12-18% per week for clinical teams. 

To break down these barriers, leaders need to create an organisational culture where experimenting and learning from failures is encouraged without fear. This psychological safety is vital for turning fragmented ideas into scalable solutions. 

2. Effective leaders build trust and structure that enable responsible experimentation. 

Successfully scaling innovation requires a shift in both governance and culture. Commissioning, procurement, and governance processes rarely flex to support innovation embedding. Staff often experience a relentless cycle of pilots without follow-through, leading to disengagement.  The UCLPartners (2025) review found that Integrated Care Boards with strong innovation governance frameworks achieved 40 percent higher uptake of tested solutions than those without. 

So leaders must provide impartial, independent oversight to support informed risk-taking and establish a foundation of trust and transparency with all stakeholders, including policymakers and end-users. This trust is built on a willingness to share both successes and setbacks openly. 

3. Safety and bravery must coexist for innovation to thrive. 

The most successful models for scaling innovation are built on cross-sector collaboration. They generate robust evidence and drive the adoption of proven solutions. And they require bravery to seek out new, transformative technologies — grounded in a commitment to rigorous evaluation and a clear understanding of the full patient and economic value. The Office for Life Sciences (2024) estimated that effective adoption of proven digital tools could save the NHS between £12 and £14 billion annually. 

Yet providers are often funded in ways that reward activity, not outcomes. Commissioners may be risk-averse or tied to short-term goals. So even the best innovations can be perceived as a burden – one more thing to do, one more risk to manage. 

A better approach begins with alignment between the innovation and the system it’s entering. That means clear programme logic, a roadmap to integration, and understanding where value will really be delivered. 

How Future Care Capital Accelerates Adoption  

Future Care Capital (FCC) helps innovation leaders to break barriers and drive sustainable, measurable impact in health and care. We recognise the systemic silos, short-term thinking, and resource constraints that prevent progress. Our innovation management model helps organisations scale real-world impact by: 

• Embedding adoption planning and benefit realisation from the outset. 

• Offering independent, impartial guidance to support informed risk-taking. 

• Designing governance frameworks and playbooks that accelerate responsible implementation. 

• Facilitating cross-sector collaboration between NHS systems, investors, charities, and innovators. 

• Generating robust evidence through evaluation to inform scaling and investment decisions.

Case study: Building a multi-site evidence base and toolkit for digital inclusion 

The Digital Neighbourhoods Evaluation (2023–24) directly confronted the challenge of evidence generation, a critical bottleneck in scaling innovation. Recognising that financial constraints prevent Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) from investing in unproven pilots, FCC established a rigorous multi-site evidence base alongside a practical toolkit for digital inclusion.  

This work transitioned a promising concept from an isolated success to a validated, repeatable blueprint. By providing empirical proof and a clear implementation framework, FCC minimised the risk associated with adopting digital solutions, accelerating confidence and investment across the system. 

Case study: Uniting senior leaders to align adoption strategies and promote evidence-based innovation  

Addressing systemic friction demands unified leadership and strategic alignment. The National Workforce and Innovation Event (2024) successfully convened senior leaders across health and care to align adoption strategies and promote evidence-based innovation.  

This platform for shared learning broke down historical silos and fostered the psychological safety necessary for informed risk-taking. This strategic alignment ensures that adoption efforts are supported by consistent governance and workforce policies, accelerating the path from a fragmented idea to a widespread solution that’s sustainable for the workforce and impactful for the patient. 

The path forward: from pilots to systemic impact 

Ensuring more successful innovations scale beyond the pilot phase requires a fundamental shift in thinking. Leaders need to focus on rigorous evaluation and cross-sector collaboration, ensuring pilot projects have the robust evidence, impartial governance and alignment to turn ideas into scalable impact. 

Future Care Capital’s Innovation Management team helps startups, healthcare providers and investors to get there. We identify, develop, and scale health and care innovations by overcoming systemic barriers and providing expert guidance. If you’re looking to scale innovation responsibly and sustainably, contact Dr Lauren Evans at lauren@futurecarecapital.org.uk.