DigitalHealth.London Pathfinder FAQs

The DigitalHealth.London Pathfinder is a practical programme of support for digital health companies to connect, grow and navigate commercialisation for health and care markets. It bridges the gap between national ambition and local delivery, providing companies developing or scaling innovations with the knowledge, connections and market insights needed to align with health and care priorities and accelerate adoption.

For the first edition of the programme, the DigitalHealth.London Pathfinder is focused on Neighbourhood Health.

London’s Neighbourhood Health Service is being developed based on a simple ambition, to deliver care that is more joined up, more responsive, and rooted in the needs of local communities.

This mechanism of delivery moves NHS service deliver from organisational boundaries (a GP practice, community trust or hospital), to geographic neighbourhoods where teams from different organisations work together across shared patient populations.

This reorganisation aims to deliver on the UK Government’s shift of hospital to community, as outlined in the
10 Year Health Plan for England. It’s purpose is to move funding, resources and routine care out closer to where people live.  

The programme will last for 10 weeks, beginning on Tuesday 1 December 2026 and ending on Friday 19 February. We will be providing at least 12 hours of supervised support through workshops, events and one-to-one meetings, and recommend approximately one hour per week of self-directed learning and peer learning through the online forum.

The companies on the programme will be expected to attend virtual onboarding events and online (unless stated) workshops or events on the following days:
Tuesday 1 December 2026: Onboarding
Tuesday 8 December 2026 
Tuesday 15 December 2026 
Tuesday 5 January 2027 
Tuesday 12 January 2027 
Tuesday 26 January 2027 (In-person, London)
Tuesday 2 February 2027 
Tuesday 9 February 2027 (In-person, location TBC)

Additional virtual one-to-one meetings will be arranged further to these times. 

The programme is for digital health companies that have launched their product into the UK health and care market and are committed to growing their product and company forward with the support of DigitalHealth.London.  

Places will be offered to companies that have products that support neighbourhood health and are deemed to have high potential to enable transformation in the four priority areas:
1. Proactive population health management
2. Remote monitoring, outpatient transformation and virtual wards
3. Interoperability and integrating healthcare information
4. Service access and care navigation

You must have a product that has progressed beyond development and validation that is already deployed or procured in a real-world health or care setting. As a company, you should be able to engage in commercial negotiations with health or care organisations and providers.  

This 10 week hybrid programme includes:

Five interactive online workshops covering key topics to support the adoption and growth of digital products for neighbourhood health.

One in-person practical workshop focusing on stakeholder engagement.

One in-person engagement event with stakeholders who are delivering, or will be delivering, neighbourhood health services in London.

Dedicated programme navigation from a Digital Health Guide.

Peer-to-peer networking and knowledge sharing through an online forum and at in-person events.

Local authority; health; care; Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) organisations; and community partners are working together to organise services around the needs of local populations. This means delivering more joined-up, accessible and personalised health and care.
 
As health and care in England shifts from hospital to community, there is growing demand for technologies that support neighbourhood working and integrated models of care. The 10 Year Health Plan for England establishes a clear direction of travel, while neighbourhood delivery models create opportunities for digital health companies to contribute to system transformation. Understanding how to navigate this evolving market is essential for companies who are developing or scaling high-potential products aimed at enabling the shift to neighbourhood health.

Digital health companies can offer new ways to improve access, co-ordination and prevention, but face barriers including fragmented commissioning, complex procurement and difficulty scaling across health and care.

This programme provides dedicated support to bridge the gap between national ambition and local delivery, helping digital health companies align with neighbourhood health priorities and build partnerships to develop and scale solutions that support more proactive, preventative and personalised care, closer to where people live.                             

The Pathfinder is a hybrid programme. Seven sessions, including onboarding, will be delivered online. One workshop will be held in-person and there will be an in-person stakeholder engagement event at a central London location.

The DigitalHealth.London Pathfinder accepts applications from companies offering solutions in both the health and social care sectors.

Places on the programme will be offered to companies with products that support neighbourhood health and are deemed to have high potential to enable transformation in the four priority areas:

1. Proactive population health management
2. Remote monitoring, outpatient transformation and virtual wards
3. Interoperability and integrating healthcare information
4. Service access and care navigation

In order to ensure a personalised and high-quality experience from participating in the DigitalHealth.London Pathfinder, we will be limiting the numbers on this programme to 20 companies. 

Up to two people from each company can attend the DigitalHealth.London Pathfinder online workshops. The programme will be most beneficial if a named person remains the same throughout the programme, however we will encourage substitution in the case of resignation or sickness. We will provide information on who can attend the in-person workshop and event ahead of each event.

The DigitalHealth.London Pathfinder focuses specifically on supporting digital health companies after they have launched a product to market. Through our workshops and support, the programme helps participants understand current NHS and social care challenges, particularly in the context of how neighbourhood-based working in London is evolving. Companies will be supported to refine their value proposition, and develop the knowledge, networks and skills needed to engage effectively with health and care stakeholders. 
 
DigitalHealth.London’s Accelerator is a 12 month programme which supports companies across a broader range of areas including evidence generation, but also working with the NHS, refining products, market navigation and much more. The Launchpad programme is a 12 week programme for earlier stage companies, supporting them to launch a new product into the NHS. The content of this programme is aligned with our Launchpad and Accelerator programmes. This means that the Pathfinder may not be relevant if you have already taken part in one of these DigitalHealth.London programmes.

The DigitalHealth.London Pathfinder specifically focuses on providing digital health and social care companies with essential knowledge that they need to consider for successful commercialisation. This differs from the NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) which is a broader national spread and adoption programme for healthcare innovations (not just digital innovation). 
  
The SBRI Healthcare programme provides funding to develop innovations that meet the challenges facing the healthcare system. The DigitalHealth.London Bootcamp works with companies who have already developed solutions. 
  
Companies are able to take part in the DigitalHealth.London Pathfinder at the same time as the NIA or SBRI programmes. 

DigitalHealth.London does not invest in companies or take any equity. 

If successful, onboarding for the DigitalHealth.London Pathfinder programme will start w/c 30 November 2026. A member of the delivery team may arrange a one-to-one call prior to this date. You will be asked to provide onboarding information after being notified of your place on the programme.

Applicants should meet the following criteria:

1. Registered company (UK or international) working or planning to work in London.

2. Company that meets the definition of a small-medium sized enterprise.

3. Company with a neighbourhood health product launched to market and capable of being deployed in a real-world health or care setting in its current form (subject to normal customer-specific implementation requirements). 

4. Company and/or product that demonstrates an NHS or healthcare market development need around building knowledge of neighbourhood health and the wider health and care system.

5. Company with a representative that is available to attend all programme activity between 1 December 2026 and 12 February 2027.

Yes, we encourage applications from international companies provided you are intending to or have launched in the UK and are already or are intending to work in London. You must be registered as a company with UK Companies House or an international equivalent.

We consider applications from all companies. However, we strongly advise applicants to consider their capacity to attend online workshops and events. 

The programme is aimed at digital health and care companies with solutions that support neighbourhood health services. This may include companies that have established NHS and care market access, significant scale or mature commercial capabilities but are intending to work more within a neighbourhood health framework.

Companies and individuals that are already working with the NHS or healthcare can certainly still benefit from the programme if your understanding and capability in navigating the NHS market, especially in the context of neighbourhood health, is still developing.

Digital health and care companies that have a product progressed beyond development and validation that is sufficiently mature and deployed or procured in a real-world health or care setting. Applicants should demonstrate that their primary development challenge is building the capability, knowledge and relationships required to successfully navigate and grow within neighbourhood health.

As a company, you need to be in a position to respond to commercial interest from a health or care organisation/provider.

The benefit received by your Company from the DigitalHealth.London Pathfinder programme will be classified as Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA) under the Subsidy Control Act (2022). The amount of Minimal Financial Assistance that your Company will receive through the DigitalHealth.London Pathfinder programme is estimated to be worth the equivalent of £3,000. 
  
Before you commence the programme, we will require written confirmation that receipt of the payment will not exceed your Company’s Subsidy Control Statutory Guidance MFA threshold of £315,000 cumulated over this and the previous two financial years, as specified in section 36(1) of the Subsidy Control Act (2022). This means you must confirm that you have not received more than £312,000 (£315,000 minus the value of this subsidy of £3,000) in MFA subsidies or comparable types of subsidies (see section 42(8) of the Subsidy Control Act) between 1 April 2020 and the date you submit your application. 
  
We take this opportunity to remind you that you are required to keep a written record of the amount of MFA you have received and the date/s when it was received. The written record must be kept for at least three years beginning with the date on which the MFA was given. This will enable you to respond to future requests from public authorities on how much MFA you have received and whether you have reached the cumulative threshold. 
  
See here for more information: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/23/enacted 

To participate on this programme, you must have products that support neighbourhood health and are deemed to have high potential to enable transformation in the four priority areas:

1. Proactive population health management
2. Remote monitoring, outpatient transformation and virtual wards
3. Interoperability and integrating healthcare information
4. Service access and care navigation

Yes. Our stakeholders have indicated the four areas as the current priorities and areas of focus that they are working on. These are:
1. Proactive population health management
2. Remote monitoring, outpatient transformation and virtual wards
3. Interoperability and integrating healthcare information
4. Service access and care navigation

If you have a product that falls outside of these areas, the programme will still be relevant and beneficial as you understand more about neighbourhood health delivery in London.

Companies are invited to apply for the programme through our application form on MS Forms only, which can be found here.
 
Applications for the DigitalHealth.London Pathfinder are open until 11:59pm on Sunday 8 November 2026.
 
Applications will be reviewed and scored by a panel assembled by DigitalHealth.London before shortlisting and selecting successful applicants.  
  
Applications will be scored for their suitability for participation in the DigitalHealth.London Pathfinder programme in three areas: 
1. Relevance to and impact of your product on neighbourhood health across the four identified priority areas;
2. Business credibility; and
3. Motivation to participate in and benefit from the programme.

Applications are submitted through the MS Forms portal only, which can be found here.

The form includes questions to assess your suitability for the programme, in line with the eligibility criteria. There are also questions to share the intended participant information, so we can inform you of the outcome of your application.

Applications for the DigitalHealth.London Pathfinder are open until 11:59pm on Sunday 8 November 2026.

DigitalHealth.London will be holding a 101 Webinar to provide interested parties a chance to directly engage with members of the programme delivery team on Tuesday 3 November, 10:00am-11:00am.

To sign up for the webinar, please register on Eventbrite: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/digtialhealthlondon-pathfinder-101-webinar
  
Should you still have any questions, please email  info@digitalhealth.london  with any queries and someone from the team will be happy to help you. In the unlikely event we are unable to answer your question over email, we will happily set up a call with an appropriate team member. 

Unfortunately, once you have submitted your application, you are unable to edit your answers. We recommend applicants review and proofread applications before submitting them.

Applicants will be contacted via email by Monday 23 November 2026 regarding the outcome of the application review. 

Due to the large number of applications we receive, we do not offer feedback if applicants are not successful.