News

Download our Impact Report

In 2024-25, we delivered a wide range of programmes and initiatives in partnership with our NHS partners, supporting priority areas including patient safety, cardiovascular disease, polypharmacy, and health inequalities.

Our work over the past year has aligned closely with the government’s three shifts for healthcare and its overarching ambition to drive economic growth. We continue to work with our health systems, innovators and academia to spread the adoption and implementation of solutions that can help to increase NHS capacity, improve patient outcomes and make care more accessible.

Richard Stubbs, Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber CEO and Chair of the Health Innovation Network, said: “Health innovation is the engine behind the transformation that is needed to drive real change if we want to provide sustainable solutions for the biggest health challenges. An NHS fit for the future must focus on adopting innovation that works, everywhere. But even more importantly, it needs to focus on implementation. Our focus remains on spreading the adoption of innovations that help to increase NHS capacity and improve patient outcomes.

Our work over the past year aligns with the government’s three shifts for healthcare and its mission to drive economic growth. This report highlights some of the key pieces of work we have led this year to help support these priorities.

All of this positive progress is only made possible through the support and hard work of our staff and stakeholders, and we look forward to continuing to work closely together in the future.”

Hospital to community

By embracing and implementing digital health innovation at scale, we can build a more efficient, resilient NHS that not only reduces waiting lists and improves access to primary care, but also improves patient outcomes and moves the focus of care from hospitals into communities. O In our region we’ve been doing this by bringing cardiovascular screening into underserved communities using the PocDoc app. Hosting these checks in the community has meant people most at risk received quicker, more efficient care, with 99% of those tested saying it was easier than going to the GP.

Analogue to digital

Innovation can transform and relieve the pressure on high-volume care pathways by enabling diagnostics, monitoring, self-management and treatment in alternative care settings or at home. In South Yorkshire, we are working with partners to deliver a real-world health economics evaluation of a ground-breaking digital therapeutic app. Daylight offers a structured cognitive behavioural therapy programme through a dedicated app, to help patients manage anxiety. This approach aims to improve access to anxiety treatment, reduce waiting times and the use of medication. To date, 1,436 people have signed up, with 884 enrolling and beginning first-line treatment as an alternative to medication

Sickness to prevention

Preventing illness is key to reducing pressure on the NHS. Flu-related illnesses can occupy approximately 5,400 hospital beds daily and consume over 100,000 bed days in a single month. 25.4% of patients avoided being prescribed unnecessary antibiotics in a ‘test and treat’ influenza community pathway we have piloted across 21 sites in Yorkshire. This pilot research has been conducted as a collaborative working agreement between ourselves, Roche Diagnostics Ltd and Roche Products Ltd.

Economic Growth

With public sector budgets continuing to be under enormous pressure, our work to drive economic growth in our region is more important than ever. This year we supported 545 companies, including providing our expert input for 55 grant applications. Of these, 10 were successful, leveraging investment of £5.1million into the region.

Propel@YH is our flagship accelerator programme helping health innovators to grow their businesses. Now in its sixth year, the programme secured additional funding to expand this year’s cohort to 19 companies. They raised £11.4m of investment during their time on the programme and created 22 jobs. We’ve also been chosen to host the West Yorkshire healthtech accelerator which will see Propel@YH grow to support 240 businesses over the next four years as part of the West Yorkshire Mayor’s Investment Zone.

These are just some examples, but see how our work is making an impact across the region – explore the report.

Read the full report online.