Detailed Programme Information 

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

This programme builds on the AAC and 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. ​  

The South West AHSN is supporting its three local Integrated Care Systems – 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. They areIt 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 testings 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.    

The South West AHSN 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.    

Supporting the evaluation of InHIP 

With significant experience in evaluating innovations that address health inequalities, the Evaluation and Learning team at the South West AHSN 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 AHSNs directly to develop a robust approach to evaluating their InHIP programmes and capturing learning from the work.   

For more information about InHIP and the role of the South West AHSN in delivering this programme, or to be put in touch with the InHIP leads in Somerset, Devon, or Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, please contact South West AHSN InHIP Programme Lead, Marie-Joelle West (marie-joelle.west@swahsn.com).