Neighbourhood Health: What do HealthTech suppliers need to think about following the recent ICB National Footprint guidance?

Lloyd Price
4d
4 min read

Updated: 2d

Neighbourhood Health: What do HealthTech suppliers need to think about following the recent ICB National Footprint guidance?

The recent NHS England Neighbourhood Health guidelines for 2025/26 outline a strategic direction that significantly impacts HealthTech suppliers aiming to provide solutions within the English healthcare system. This guidance emphasises a fundamental shift in how healthcare is delivered, moving towards more integrated, proactive, and community-based models. For HealthTech suppliers, understanding the nuances of this approach is crucial for developing relevant solutions and navigating the procurement and adoption landscape.

The core concept of Neighbourhood Health revolves around delivering care closer to people's homes, strengthening primary and community services, and fostering integrated working among multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) at a local level. This is part of a broader government ambition to shift from a reactive, hospital-centric model to a more preventative and community-oriented healthcare system, heavily reliant on digital transformation.

The recent NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) national footprint guidance, particularly the Neighbourhood Health Guidelines 2025/26, shifts the focus toward integrated, community-based care, impacting HealthTech suppliers in the UK. Here’s what suppliers need to consider:

Alignment with Neighbourhood Health Priorities

The guidance emphasises delivering care closer to home through integrated neighbourhood teams (INTs), focusing on population health and reducing inequalities. HealthTech suppliers must ensure their solutions support proactive, planned, and responsive care for complex needs, such as social prescribing or comprehensive geriatric assessments. Products should address local population health challenges, like managing long-term conditions or preventing hospital admissions.

Interoperability and Data Integration

The guidelines stress the importance of compatible clinical data systems across GP, social care, and other providers. Suppliers need to prioritise interoperability, ensuring their technologies integrate seamlessly with existing NHS systems, such as the Federated Data Platform (FDP), which 85% of secondary care trusts are expected to adopt by March 2026. Solutions should also support population health management, like risk stratification, to align with upcoming NHS data guidance in 2025.

Collaboration with Local Stakeholders

ICBs, local authorities, and voluntary sector partners are tasked with co-designing neighbourhood health models. Suppliers must engage early with these stakeholders, including primary care networks and place-based partnerships, to co-produce solutions tailored to local needs. Building relationships at the neighbourhood level, rather than relying solely on centralised ICB procurement, is critical.

Focus on Health Inequalities

The guidance mandates tackling health disparities, ensuring accessibility for underserved groups (e.g., by disability, ethnicity, or deprivation). Suppliers should design inclusive technologies, incorporating features like multilingual support or accessibility adjustments, and provide evidence of how their solutions reduce inequalities, a key metric for ICB evaluation.

Support for Step-Up and Step-Down Care

The emphasis on efficient step-up (preventing admissions) and step-down (timely discharges) pathways means suppliers should offer solutions that optimise resource use, such as remote monitoring or virtual wards. Technologies that enable seamless transitions between care settings, like home-first approaches, will be prioritised.

Sustainability and Net Zero Compliance

ICBs are bound by the NHS’s net zero targets, reinforced by the Health and Care Act 2022. Suppliers must align with the NHS Net Zero Supplier Roadmap: by April 2027, all suppliers need to report global Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, and by April 2028, provide carbon footprints for individual products. Immediate steps include preparing Carbon Reduction Plans (CRPs) for contracts over £5 million per annum, a requirement since April 2023.

Value-Based Procurement (VBP) Opportunities

Upcoming VBP guidance in 2025 will evaluate technologies on financial, efficiency, patient, and environmental benefits, not just cost. Suppliers should highlight broader value, such as improved outcomes or reduced secondary care referrals, as seen in the Tower Hamlets Women’s Health Hub model, which cut secondary care referrals by 60%.

Adapting to Devolved Decision-Making

Recent industry commentary indicates a potential shift in ICB roles from operational to strategic commissioning, with providers gaining more tech decision-making power. Suppliers may need to target individual NHS trusts and place-based partnerships directly, tailoring pitches to local footprints while navigating potential inconsistencies in adoption across the 42 ICBs.

While the guidance promotes integration and local flexibility, it risks creating a fragmented market where suppliers face inconsistent adoption and varying priorities across neighbourhoods. The permissive nature of the guidelines, allowing local tailoring, may disadvantage smaller HealthTech firms lacking resources to engage multiple stakeholders. Additionally, the NHS’s slow adoption history and budget constraints could hinder the promised “revolution in access to care,” such as the target for 70% of elective appointments to be managed via the NHS App by 2025. Suppliers should remain skeptical of over-optimistic timelines and focus on building robust, evidence-based cases for their solutions’ impact on productivity and patient outcomes.

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