Our work on this programme has now ended. Please contact [email protected] if you wish to discuss the contents of this page.

About

NHS England’s Innovation for Healthcare Inequalities Programme (InHIP) is a unique collaboration between NHS England’s National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme and the Health Innovation Network (Health Innovation Network), and delivered in partnership with Integrated Care Systems (ICSs). 

This programme builds on the AHSN networks’ achievements and learning to date in improving access to innovations in healthcare for the general population. ​  

Project teams (comprising of clinical and non-clinical expertise) from across the country are working together with their local communities to identify, address and minimise healthcare inequalities through innovative projects to improve access to the latest NICE-approved health technologies and medicines.    

These technologies and medicines are focused on five clinical areas of priority that closely align with the national Core20PLUS5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities, which includes maternity, mental health, respiratory, cancer diagnosis and cardiovascular disease. ​  

Health Innovation South West is supporting its three local Integrated Care Systems (ICS) – NHS Somerset, NHS Devon, and NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly – to improve access to innovations that reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by delivering projects aimed at the specific needs of under-served communities in each county. 

NHS Somerset

NHS Somerset aims to address the needs of the homeless and rough sleeper population in Somerset by addressing risk factors such as smoking, elevated BMI, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, hyperglycaemia, poor kidney function and atrial fibrillation. The ICS is working with the Somerset Homeless and Rough Sleeper Nursing Service and its users to co-design strategies for treatment optimisation, along with supporting GP practices to identify vulnerable groups and meet their cardiovascular needs.  

NHS Devon

NHS Devon aims to target inequality by reducing barriers to  routine healthcare assessments and optimising treatment of heart failure. The approach includes a remote monitoring (digital) service for heart failure patients to support optimisation and access to  innovations, particularly for those in more rural and deprived areas, and patients who experience mental illness, learning disability and/or neurodiversity. The project is also testing a person-centred, primary care outreach model in a community centre to improve access to routine healthcare for those who are at high risk of ill-health and premature mortality.   

NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly plan to reduce cardiovascular disease risk in the Index of Multiple Deprivation’s 20% most deprived population, amongst ethnic minority communities and protected characteristic groups cohorts. This delivery approach includes risk modelling and finding cases of hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia and atrial fibrillation in collaboration with local community organisations, to enable onward care and treatment at a place-based level.    

Health Innovation South West is working with NHS Somerset, NHS Devon, and NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, and their Core20PLUS5 Health Inequalities Improvement teams based in respective county councils, to deliver their projects with local communities and, importantly, ensure that insights into patients’ wider determinants of health are captured.   

Understanding unintended health consequences of safety legislation in Cornish fishing communities

Health Innovation South West shaped and co-authored a research project with the University of Exeter and Public Health Cornwall, as part of InHIP, to highlight the lived experiences of Cornish fishing communities affected by recent health and safety changes.  

Published in Fish and Fisheries in August 2024, the research paper has provided valuable insight into how mandatory medical certification may discourage those in the fishing community from seeking care. Learn more in our case study. 

Supporting the evaluation of InHIP 

With significant experience in evaluating innovations that address health inequalities, the Evaluation and Learning team at Health Innovation South West was called upon to design and coordinate the development of a national evaluation approach to ensure that the impact and learning from the programme could be captured country-wide. This included developing and embedding logic models, evaluation frameworks and learning approaches to ensure a robust approach.  

Our Evaluation Leads also support fellow Health Innovation Networks directly to develop a robust approach to evaluating their InHIP programmes and capturing learning from the work.