ARU receives £4.8m to boost innovation in the NHS

Drone and robotics company Apian is one of the businesses supported by CEP. Photo courtesy of Apian and Wing

Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) has secured £4.8 million to continue delivering the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme, which is playing an important role in supporting innovation across the National Health Service.

The NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme (CEP) was established with ARU 10 years ago to help NHS staff develop innovations that address real-world healthcare challenges.

The new funding from NHS England will enable CEP to continue to grow over the next five years and reinforces ARU’s position at the forefront of healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship in the UK.

Since 2016, CEP has supported the creation of 691 businesses, which have generated 5,184 jobs, and has helped raise more than £1.27 billion of investment for these businesses. Worldwide, an estimated 278 million people have benefited from products, processes and services developed through the programme.

The programme also plays a critical role in retaining talent within the NHS. By enabling clinicians to develop their ventures alongside their clinical careers, CEP supports entrepreneurial ambition without drawing expertise away from frontline care.

Among the businesses supported by CEP is Apian, a drone and robotics company co-founded by NHS clinician Dr Hammad Jeilani. Apian enables the rapid transport of urgent items such as blood samples, medications and medical equipment between sites, and following landmark regulatory approval in London is now scaling its services across the NHS.

CEP has also helped Dr Dafydd Loughran in expanding a tool he developed to support conversations around patient consent and decision making. From originally being used on surgical wards in Wales, this has grown into Concentric Health, a market leading digital consent platform used by over a million patients each year.

The programme has also supported the development of the Dementia Innovators Programme, delivered in partnership with Alzheimer’s Society, and ARU has recently introduced the Patient Entrepreneur Programme, to ensure people with lived experience can also play a central role in shaping healthcare innovation.

The new funding, which has been awarded following a competitive bidding process, will support the continued growth of the Patient Entrepreneur Programme, alongside the Clinical Entrepreneur Programme, and one early success is MyFolks, an initiative to help tackle social isolation among older people.

Founded by Louise Thompson, MyFolks was inspired by her own experience of balancing work with caring responsibilities for her parents. The platform connects older individuals with vetted, local assistants who provide companionship and practical support, from daily tasks to social engagement.