Dr Cheryl Crocker's account of prevention-led innovation focused on changes across care pathways, rather than technology alone. Speaking as interim chief operating officer at the Health Innovation Network, she connected earlier action with better health and reduced pressure on services.
Physical health and severe mental illness
One example was the Longer Lives Strategic Delivery Plan in North Central London, developed with UCLPartners. The original report described a high prevalence of severe mental illness and a life-expectancy gap of around 20 years. Smoking, blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol were among the risk factors the plan sought to address.
Cardiovascular prevention at scale
The account cited approximately 1.18 million cardiovascular hospital admissions annually and a UK cost of around £19 billion. Programmes across the network's 15 local organisations promoted lipid-lowering treatment and identification of familial hypercholesterolaemia. Reported work over two years was associated with an estimated 9,000 heart attacks and strokes prevented.
Making early detection more accessible
The Innovation for Healthcare Inequalities Programme worked with the Accelerated Access Collaborative on unequal access to innovation. In the east of England, conversations about bowel screening with more than 300 people from underserved groups were followed by almost 30% saying they intended to order a test kit. That measure concerned intention, not confirmed testing.
Different places, different barriers
Work in North Devon supported use of the faecal immunochemical test, or FIT, in communities facing poorer health outcomes. Across these examples, the common issue was how to connect an intervention with the people who could benefit. Prevention required local relationships and changes in delivery as well as clinical tools.
