Accessing innovations
Ensuring south London benefits from national innovation priorities which address health inequalities.
This year, we have focused on helping south London benefit from national programmes and new approaches that improve care and reduce health inequalities. Our work includes large-scale programmes such as wound care, where we are supporting the use of evidence-based pathways, and cardiovascular disease, where we are strengthening skills in primary care and improving how services are delivered.
We have also supported national patient safety work, including Martha’s Rule and maternity and neonatal programmes, helping services work more consistently and safely. Alongside this, we have contributed to the OneLondon Health Data Programme, supporting public involvement and enabling better use of data to improve care and research.
Wound care
Unhealed wounds cost the NHS over £5.8 billion annually, with lower limb wounds making up 71% of this and taking up over half of community nursing time.
Evidence from the National Wound Care Strategy Programme (NWCSP 2018-2023) shows that following the best practice pathway can significantly improve patient outcomes, speed up healing and ease pressure on services.
We have partnered with the South East London Integrated Care Board and the South East London Community Provider Network to improve care for people with lower limb wounds (leg/foot) across all six boroughs over a three-year period (2025-2028).
Local work supported by the Health Innovation Network South London, in Southwark and Bromley, has already delivered elements of the National Wound Care Strategy Programme’s recommendations and demonstrated significant improvements in savings, efficiencies, and healing rates consistent with national findings:
- In Southwark’s ambulatory clinics, the median healing time is now 4-7 weeks compared to 31 weeks at baseline. As a result of the changes, the savings average at around £494 per wound.
- In Bromley, the healing time for housebound patients has reduced significantly, and staff time has been saved through the implementation of digital technology. This uses AI to scan wounds, providing better information about how well the wound is healing, so that the patient’s care plan can be modified accordingly.
Full implementation of the pathway across all six south east London boroughs will yield better care and significant savings. Our modelling shows that by improving healing rates for the estimated 5000 lower limb wounds in south east London per year, savings from dressings alone could be £2.47 million. Additional savings of £3.1-3.5 million would be seen across urgent care and inpatient bed days, and significant productivity improvements across tissue viability, district nursing and practice nursing from changes in practice.
In its first year, the programme has focused on understanding current pathways and healing rates, agreeing common education and training standards across wound care services, and discussing the factors which affect how lower limb wounds are treated in primary care and nursing homes. It is supported by a Clinical Reference Group with members drawn from all four community provider organisations in south east London, and health service commissioners.
Cardiovascular disease programmes
Cardiometabolic Fellowship Programme
Established in 2022, the Cardiometabolic Fellowship programme was designed to strengthen primary care capability in cardiovascular disease prevention. Over four years, 149 Fellows have completed the programme, delivering 128 quality improvement projects. These projects have supported local priorities, addressed health inequalities, and helped practices and primary care networks achieve Quality and Outcomes Framework targets.
Across the past four cohorts, Fellows’ quality improvement projects have resulted in the following:
- 10,067 patients contacted for review or recall
- 3,150 patients received diagnostic tests
- 1,259 patients with corrected or updated coding
- 1,498 patients started on or optimised to guideline‑directed therapy
- 144 patients referred to specialist services
These activities represent improvements in identification, assessment, and management of people at increased cardiovascular and cardiometabolic risk, creating the conditions for improved long term outcomes.
This accredited programme offers structured clinical education – covering diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, atrial fibrillation, lipids, heart failure and obesity – alongside practical quality improvement training. Participants include GPs, nurses, pharmacists, paramedics, physician associates and other primary care and community pharmacy professionals from across south London. Fellows implement a quality improvement project within their practice or primary care network, supported through expert webinars, peer sessions and an in‑person training day.
We are now planning for a pan‑London Cardiovascular Renal Metabolic Fellowship for 2026, in collaboration with UCLPartners and Imperial College Healthcare Partners. This programme will identify and support the next generation of clinical leaders in cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic care across the capital. In parallel, we are working closely with the London Million Hearts and Minds team to align and integrate the Fellowship with their city wide programme to prevent heart attacks and strokes, ensuring consistency, scale and shared impact across London.
It was time well spent, providing invaluable opportunities to learn from peers, build meaningful networks, and gain insights from distinguished expert speakers
2025 Fellow
South East London Healthy Hearts
Data from CVDPREVENT shows that South East London Integrated Care Board is below the England average for indicators relating to major cardiovascular risk conditions, including hypertension, cholesterol, atrial fibrillation, and chronic kidney disease. This has been identified as an opportunity within the South East London System Sustainability Programme to deliver more preventative healthcare, thereby improving outcomes for patients and the financial position of the Integrated Care Board in future years.
A data audit of a sample of patients with hypertension was conducted at a practice in south east London and highlighted inefficiencies in the current pathway. For example, one patient diagnosed in October 2023 required five appointments and took 88 weeks to reach optimal targets.
The Health Innovation Network South London is working closely with South East London Integrated Care Board and Clinical Effectiveness South East London to implement the Healthy Hearts project which aims to:
- Accelerate optimisation of treatments for patients with cardiovascular disease risk conditions (hypertension, cholesterol, atrial fibrillation, chronic kidney disease). Improvements to the delivery model of care for these patients will optimise treatments faster and increase efficiencies within the system.
- Avoid up to £10 million in cost growth of care for cardiovascular disease over five years.
We have begun developing a new pathway in primary care for patients with one or more of these cardiovascular disease risk conditions. The model of care will use Lean Six Sigma principles to improve efficiency, strengthen primary care workforce capability, and support more joined-up, accessible care, alongside innovations such as point-of-care testing, digital automation and self-management tools. It will provide a standardised but adaptable approach, embed the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme through rotational training, and include evaluation to assess impact on cost, productivity and patient outcomes.
Healthy Hearts is planned with six primary care pilot sites, (one from each south east London borough), identified through an expression of interest process. Work to date has included a series of meetings and workshops with sites separately, introducing the Healthy Hearts pathway, discussing Lean Six Sigma principles to reduce inefficiencies, and agreeing how the service will be delivered locally. Initial outcomes from these sites are expected by late 2026. Learning from these initial sites will be used to adapt and strengthen the model before further rollout to more sites across south east London.
National patient safety programmes
Martha’s Rule
Martha’s Rule is named in memory of Martha Mills who died in 2021, aged 13, after developing sepsis in hospital. Martha’s family had concerns about her deteriorating condition which were not responded to. In 2023, a coroner ruled that it was likely that Martha would have survived had she been moved to intensive care earlier.
Patients admitted to any hospital in south London now have access to a rapid expert review through the Martha’s Rule telephone number, empowering patients and their families to initiate the review themselves if they feel something is not right. The rapid reviews are carried out by critical care outreach teams who provide an independent clinical perspective when concerns arise.
The Heath Innovation Network South London has been focusing on practical implementation support of Martha’s Rule in eight acute Trusts via our Pan-London Martha’s Rule Networking and Sharing Summit. We brought together 65 clinicians, patient safety leads, innovators, and NHS England colleagues to share their insights, practical learning, and emerging tools that improve the early recognition of deterioration. Some pilot sites have seen early indications that the initiative Martha’s Rule can support staff to recognise and act on deterioration sooner, enhancing patient safety. Additionally, our communications activity has reached more than 1,000 healthcare professionals, with our Martha’s Rule Innovator Spotlight video being shared nationally.
Maternity and neonatal care
The Health Innovation Network South London has supported all seven NHS Trusts with maternity services in south east London, to deliver standardised practice and build long‑term local capability through targeted quality improvement coaching and implementation support across four nationally commissioned perinatal projects this financial year.
As part of the national Avoiding Brain Injury in Childbirth programme, 70 clinical educators have been trained by our south London clinical faculty midwife and obstetrician to deliver consistent teaching on managing an impacted fetal head during caesarean birth, using simulation equipment and nationally produced materials. Ongoing implementation support is helping Trusts integrate this training into existing education schedules and routine practice, strengthening proactive management of this obstetric emergency, which carries significant risk of neonatal brain injury and mortality when not optimally managed.
The maternity units in south London are also implementing the Maternity Early Warning Score (MEWS) and Newborn Early Warning Track and Trigger 2 (NEWTT2) national tools. All seven south London Trusts are now either using or preparing to implement them, with most moving to digital versions. Digital MEWS is already live in four trusts, and all seven have clear plans for digital MEWS and NEWTT2. The tools enable earlier recognition of deterioration using evidence‑based, pregnancy‑specific parameters, supporting more proactive and preventative action to keep women, birthing people, and babies safe. They also promote the use of standardised escalation language to support clear, timely communication of concerns – including those raised by women, birthing people and their families.
The Trusts which have been supported this year across the programme:
- Croydon Health Services NHS Trust
- Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Guy’s and St Thomas’ Trust
- Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust
- St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Perinatal Culture and Leadership programme
Through the Perinatal Culture and Leadership programme, the Health Innovation Network South London delivered 14 bespoke workshops across five south London Trusts (Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust).
These were attended by a total of 67 senior leaders to help strengthen relationships, reflect on culture, and test practical changes to improve safety. An evaluation, with feedback from 47 respondents, showed a strong impact, with 89% feeling the HIN supported them to shift workplace culture.
OneLondon Health Data Programme
The London Secure Data Environment is part of the OneLondon Health Data for London Strategy’s commitment to use data at scale across London’s five Integrated Care Boards, in partnership with the NHS England London Region, the Greater London Authority and others to make London the healthiest global city and the best place to receive healthcare services. The Health Innovation Network South London has supported the communications and public engagement work for this project since 2021.
Through regular newsletters, focus groups and workshops, collaborating with our Citizens’ Advisory Group, we have ensured that co-design and public involvement remain key to our work. Our Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement events included a workshop on opt out processes, and the NHS Research SDE Network’s National Secure Data Environment Patient and Public Member Event. Our work with data controllers – including the development of a microsite, FAQs and resource materials – has contributed to 1076 practices signing up to the London Secure Data Environment to date, linking data for 10.5 million patients across the Capital.
Four NHS-led ‘Driver Projects’ covering cardiovascular disease, children and young people’s mental health, antimicrobial resistance and cancer care were also announced. To promote these, we are developing case studies, marketing material and videos that help demonstrate the London Secure Data Environment’s potential in delivering tangible health improvements.
A highlight of this year includes the successful industry launch of the London Secure Data Environment in November 2025, which welcomed Dr Zubir Ahmed MP, the Minister for Health Innovation and Safety, and approximately 100 senior stakeholders from within the NHS, industry and public. Three members of our Citizen’s Advisory Group also shared their experiences at a panel on ‘Building Public Trust’.
Reducing drug overdose harm
Over the past two years, the Health Innovation Network South London has supported two projects focused on reducing deaths from drug overdose, funded by NHS Fife and led by King’s College London.
One project included work with Pneumowave, a digital health company developing a respiratory monitoring device designed to support early detection of opioid induced respiratory depression. In parallel, we supported the development of Buccal Naloxone, a novel form of naloxone delivered via the cheek, offering a potentially safer and easier alternative to injectable or nasal options.
We worked as “Test Bed” Project Managers, overseeing delivery against agreed milestones and supporting implementation across sites. The projects were tested with people living in supported accommodation in Scotland and London.
It’s a game changer. I can’t think of a negative to it or a reason people wouldn’t carry it or wouldn’t want it.
Study participant, Buccal Naloxone