Health Innovation West of England - co-design opportunity
Health Innovation West of England supports innovators and the health and care system to develop and deploy innovations that improve healthcare. With more services moving online, it’s essential they understand how digital health tools are experienced by people who are often excluded from shaping services.
They would like to partner with VCSE sector organisations to co-design a project to capture insights from Black and Brown communities across the South West.
They would like to explore how people access and experience digital tools, and the insights gained will inform the co-creation of resources to support the improved design and deployment of digital tools and pathways. Their hope is that by sharing the valuable insights gained, innovators and healthcare can design and embed solutions that are more effective, inclusive, and meet real-world needs, while preventing the widening of health inequalities.
They would like to complete this project by the end of March 2026, with co-design commencing in November and engagement activities running January to February ideally.
Why your organisation is important
They want to hear directly from communities about their experiences and needs around digital healthcare. Your organisation could play a vital role by helping co-design workshops and other engagement activities that are inclusive, relevant, and engaging for your community.
What’s involved:
Co-designing and delivering workshops, informal chats, or group sessions tailored to your community
Exploring topics such as digital health access, inclusive design, and meaningful community engagement
Ensuring the voices of your community are fairly represented in the development of resources (not the design of current digital tools)
Benefits for your community:
Sessions are co-designed with your community, ensuring they reflect your priorities and are meaningful for participants
Participants are encouraged to contribute to outputs that reflect their input, such as a visual summary, creative resource, or other agreed format
A budget of up to £20,000 is available for our VCSE partner collaborations. They may consider appointing more than one partner if the budget allows.
Funds are also available to thank attendees for the inputs and to cover venue costs and other expenses if needed.
Organisations will be asked to submit a short proposal if interested in taking part
Next steps:
If your organisation is interested, Health Innovation West of England would love to arrange a short call to discuss:
Two possible areas of focus for workshops, which can be adapted to suit your group (guidance linked here)
How you could work together
Support or resources you might need
Ideas to make the project engaging and relevant to your community
If interested, please contact Health Innovation West of England via healthinnowest.innovation@nhs.net by 17th October 2025 and they can arrange a short call to discuss next steps and share the Expression of Interest document.
Health Innovation West of England looks forward to collaborating with you to ensure future digital health innovations are inclusive, practical, and accessible to all.