Impact matters: why evaluation is essential in health and care innovation 

When we talk about innovation in health and care, the focus is often on the new: new tools, new pathways, new ideas. But innovation is only as valuable as the impact it creates – and too often, that impact is assumed rather than evidenced. 

At Future Care Capital, we believe that impact should not be an after-thought exercise or a compliance tick-box. It should be central to how innovation is designed, delivered and understood. 

That is why impact evaluation is one of our core services – and why we work with organisations to embed it from day one. 

What we mean by ‘impact’ 

Impact is not just about outcomes. It is about the value an intervention creates for the people who use it and the systems that surround it.  

In health and care, this might include improved clinical results, better patient or service user experience, greater access, cost savings, workforce efficiencies, reduced inequalities or longer-term cultural change. 

Understanding impact means tracing the logic from action to result: What are you doing? Who is it reaching? What is changing – and how do you know? What would have happened otherwise? 

That is where evaluation comes in. And done well, it can shape how innovations are funded, scaled and sustained. 

Why innovations need to evaluate 

Every organisation working in health and care faces pressure to demonstrate value. Funders want to know their investment is making a difference. Commissioners and policymakers need evidence to support decisions. Innovators themselves want to know if what they are doing is working. 

But evaluation is often under-resourced, left too late or treated as a standalone exercise rather than part of delivery. The result is missed learning, missed opportunities and innovations that struggle to make the case for further support. 

Our approach is designed to prevent that. We help organisations take a more strategic, embedded and intelligent view of impact – so they can learn and adapt as they go and build the kind of evidence that drives decisions and unlocks funding. 

What we do differently 

We do not see evaluation as a narrow academic discipline or a static report. It is a tool for change, and it needs to reflect the real-world complexity of the health and care environment. 

We can work with organisations in two ways: 

• From the start – helping teams bake in evaluation from the earliest stages of their project. This includes developing a clear programme logic to map out how and where change will happen and creating a tailored impact plan that guides data collection and learning throughout delivery. 

• Retrospectively – for organisations who are already underway or who need to make the case for return on investment or value for money. We can help uncover and communicate impact after the fact, using data, insights and external evidence to show what has been achieved and where value lies. 

Our work is grounded in Programme Logic methodology, a framework that underpins all our evaluation activity. It ensures clarity of purpose, coherence in design, and a strong evidence base for future investment or scale. 

Our team brings deep sector knowledge, working across health, social care, innovation and investment. That means we understand the environments our clients operate in – from the pressure points to the political context – and can tailor our evaluation approach accordingly. 

We also understand that impact is not always linear or predictable. We work with clients to capture both intended and unintended effects, short-term outputs and long-term change. We are just as comfortable designing bespoke metrics as we are working within established reporting frameworks. 

Who we work with 

We support a wide range of organisations, including charities, social enterprises, NHS trusts, integrated care systems, local authorities and private sector innovators.  

Whether they are piloting new models of care, testing technology in practice, or rethinking how services are commissioned and delivered, we bring a combination of pragmatism, rigour and independence to help them show what difference they are making – and how to maximise it. 

Impact is not a given. It is something to be planned, evidenced and communicated. In a sector where resources are finite and change is hard-won, impact evaluation is not a nice-to-have – it is essential. 

For more information on our impact evaluations, visit our Impact Evaluation Page.