DHN and techUK launch joint guides to strengthen NHS–industry collaboration
Digital transformation in health and care isn’t something the NHS can deliver on its own. Industry brings expertise, technology, ideas and investment. But bringing the two together isn’t always easy.
NHS digital leaders from the Digital Health Networks (DHN) and techUK members have been working on one question: how do we make it easier to enable digital innovation and implementation in the NHS? Two themes stood out as able to both hinder and drive change: procurement and engagement. We tackle each in turn through the guides published today.
A practical guide to procurement for partnerships, innovation and outcomes
The Procurement Act 2023, in force since February 2025, offers many of the answers to how the NHS can buy for partnership, testing and co-design. But procurement teams, digital teams, clinical leads and suppliers may all need support to navigate the rules.
Written for National Health Service (NHS) digital, clinical, operational and procurement teams, and the suppliers who work with them, the guide sets out practical approaches and shows how each aligns to the Act. It covers:
Procuring for outcomes: defining success up front, building in evaluation from the start and linking outcomes to key performance indicators (KPIs) in the contract
Problem-solving partnerships and co-design: using the Competitive Flexible Procedure and phased approaches to start working together before the solution is known
Values-based procurement and social value: making social value measurable, keeping regional spend in the region and opening opportunities to small and micro businesses
Phased large-scale procurement: building in testing and stage gates, with clear definitions of proof of concept, trial and pilot – and a route to scale planned from day one
National and local approaches, frameworks and resellers: when each route works best and how to keep markets open to new entrants
Intellectual property and commercialisation: agreeing intellectual property (IP) terms early and supporting NHS staff who innovate
Working Better Together: a practical guide to engagement between the NHS and industry
The engagement guide isn’t about creating more supplier meetings. It’s about creating better ways for the NHS and industry to engage, focused on real problems, collaboration, co-design and testing.
Each section sets out what the NHS can do, what industry can do and what good looks like:
Build on partnership spaces that already exist: Health Innovation Networks, universities and NHS–industry alliances can offer a trusted route in, rather than cold emails and LinkedIn messages
Create spaces where engagement can happen: innovation days, hackathons and challenge workshops that start with a real problem and are clear about what happens next
Focus on problems, not solutions: moving the first conversation from “Here’s our product” to “Here’s the problem we’re trying to solve. How might we solve it?”
Engage nationally and locally: understanding where decisions are made and how local learning can feed national decisions
Use frameworks and resellers intelligently: involving commercial colleagues early, without letting the framework determine the solution
Procure for partnership and secure social value: treating procurement as the start of a relationship, and making sure every contract delivers measurable value for local communities
The aim is a clear route from problem to conversation, co-design, testing, evidence, adoption and, ultimately, better outcomes for patients, service users and communities.
Why this matters: productivity, outcomes and growth
Better partnership between the NHS and industry can improve NHS productivity and patient outcomes while supporting UK economic growth — shaping what comes next for health and care. Small and medium‑sized enterprises (SMEs) make up more than 99% of UK private sector organisations, and many health innovations are born in small and micro companies. Helping them test, deploy and earn revenue keeps intellectual property, skills and value in the UK, and can spread high‑quality jobs across the country.
That’s why both guides put social value, local economic growth and fair access for smaller and regional suppliers alongside better outcomes for patients.
Abigail Harrison, Executive Director of Digital, Infrastructure and Improvement, Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust and Vice Chair of the Digital Health CIO Network:
“I’ve always believed that meaningful partnerships with industry are vital to enable effective digital implementation and innovation in the NHS. I’ve learned over the years though, that it isn’t always easy as a digital leader in the NHS to work within the rules and create the space to collaborate, innovate and deliver the pace of change required. When we started working with techUK we realised that industry partners equally can find it difficult to collaborate with the NHS. So we set out together to create two practical guides: one to support better use of procurement processes to enable procurement for problem solving, outcomes and partnerships and the second to support the creation of collaborative spaces for the NHS and industry to work together to co design and test solutions.
I’m really proud of the guides we’re publishing today and I am particularly pleased that they truly represent a collective effort across NHS digital leaders and Industry. This is just the start and there is more to do but I hope the guides enable those driving change, including digital teams, clinicians or industry partners,, to have different conversations, to try out practical solutions, to implement effectively and innovate safely and ultimately improve outcomes for our patients and communities.”
Rachel Kennedy, Head of Health and Social Care, techUK
“Organisations want to be part of the solution for the NHS. These guides were shaped by people driven by this mission and doing the work every day, in the NHS and across the industry. They show how we can start with real problems, buy for outcomes and social value, and open the door to smaller and regional suppliers. Done well, that means better care for patients, a more productive NHS, and a stronger UK health tech sector creating skilled jobs across the country.”
The guides were developed with contributions from Abigail Harrison (Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust), Amy Freeman (University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust), John Mitchell (NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB)) and Louise Williams (Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust) from the Digital Health Networks, and Shane Tickell and Rachel Kennedy from techUK.
Read the guides and get involved
Download A practical guide to procurement for partnerships, innovation and outcomes
Download Working Better Together: a practical guide to engagement between the NHS and industry
Join the launch webinar on Friday 4 December at 12pm. The authors will cover:
Why the guides matter and how to use them
A walkthrough of the procurement guide: outcomes, co-design, phased procurement and social value
The engagement guide: problems not solutions, and using existing spaces
Case studies from NHS trusts leading on procurement and engagement best practice
Q&A and discussion
To find out more or get involved in techUK’s Health and Social Care programme, contact Rachel Kennedy, Head of Health and Social Care, at rachel.kennedy@techuk.org.
