Health Launchpad

Health Launchpad has been set-up with NESTA to speed up the creation and development of social enterprises relating to long term conditions. An early stage social venture fund we develop promising ideas into new ventures by providing intensive hands-on support in the form of financial, intellectual and social capital.

Healthcare in the UK is in the midst of an historic transition. Shaped by the 19th century problems of contagious and acute disease, the National Health Service now has to cope with a new epidemic of long term conditions. The latest official Health Survey reports that 45% of the adult population of the UK has one or more long-standing illnesses. For those aged 75 or over the figure is three quarters. By the end of the last century, long term conditions accounted for 80% of NHS spending.

We are looking for innovative ideas that address this changing health landscape. Our definition of long term conditions is broad; it extends to asthma, obesity, mental illness and chronic back pain. We anticipate that ideas will emphasize patient-centred approaches, with a greater focus on prevention, continuity of care and non-medical support. We aim to turn those ideas into new ventures that will make as profound an impact as possible on the UK's health and quality of life.