Health Innovation Manchester’s vision is to be world leading in improving the lives of local people, transforming care, and boosting the economy through innovation.
Our Refreshed 2026 Strategy
Across the NHS and life sciences sector, there is renewed urgency to improve outcomes, shift towards prevention, and ensure innovation is adopted faster and more consistently at scale, notably with the publication of the recent 10-Year Health Plan and the Life Sciences Sector Plan.
Greater Manchester is uniquely positioned to respond to this moment. With a diverse population of over three million people, mature integrated care, rich longitudinal data assets and a strong culture of collaboration, the city-region offers a powerful testbed for innovation that works in the real world.
Our strategy refresh reflects how both the environment and HInM’s role have evolved – not just to connect partners, but to enable delivery and help the system move from promising ideas to measurable impact. As well as supporting industry and innovators to work with the NHS in ways that are trusted, scalable and sustainable.
Delivering impact over the next five years:
This HInM strategy sets out our plans for how we will continue to accelerate the adoption of innovation, ensuring it delivers real benefit at scale and at pace, over the next five years by prioritising the areas where we can make the biggest difference.
The ambition for the future is that health innovation will be embedded in how care is delivered, how investment is attracted, and how outcomes for local people are improved. For citizens, this means better health, earlier diagnosis and equitable access to innovative treatment. For the NHS, this will mean a more productive, data-enabled and financially resilient system. And for the economy, GM will be recognised as a leading UK hub for data-enabled life sciences and AI innovation and attract investment.
Our strategic priorities – refreshed in response to an evolving landscape
The refreshed strategy brings sharper focus and greater clarity to how we will accelerate the adoption of innovation at scale and at pace, support system sustainability and economic growth, and importantly deliver better outcomes and experiences for the 2.8m people of Greater Manchester.
Objective 1
Improve lives and outcomes for Greater Manchester people by accelerating population health impact at scale.
Objective 2
Position Greater Manchester as a globally recognised place of choice for industry-led innovation, delivering inclusive economic growth through Greater Data, AI and real-world evidence.
Objective 3
Optimise digital, data and AI to improve care quality, productivity and workforce sustainability at scale.
Objective 4
Evolve HInM into a high-performing, AI-enabled organisation able to lead and deliver innovation at greater pace and scale.
To read more about our strategic objectives click on the menu options below:
Improve lives and outcomes for Greater Manchester people by accelerating population health impact at scale
We will focus on delivering measurable population health improvement at scale by concentrating effort where the need, opportunity and evidence of impact are greatest.
With a particular focus on cardiovascular-renal-metabolic (CVRM) and obesity, respiratory and worklessness, our approach will combine earlier detection, pathway redesign, adoption of proven innovation and real-world implementation, working with system partners to embed sustainable change.
Position Greater Manchester as a globally recognised place of choice for industry-led innovation, delivering inclusive economic growth through Greater Data, AI and real-world evidence
We will drive economic development and inclusive growth by strengthening Greater Manchester’s position as a leading UK hub for life sciences and Health Tech innovation. As a priority growth sector, life sciences presents a critical opportunity to attract inward investment, create high-skill jobs and improve productivity alongside health outcomes.
Optimise digital, data and AI to improve care quality, productivity and workforce sustainability at scale
HInM will continue to evolve core digital and data assets, including the GM Care Record (GMCR) and Secure Data Environment (SDE), ensuring they remain trusted, high-quality and fit for large-scale innovation, research and service improvement.
Building on this foundation, we will deliver a focused AI mission for Greater Manchester. Our role will be to move AI from pilots to sustained practice, ensuring safe, ethical and scalable adoption that delivers tangible benefit for patients, clinicians and the system.
Evolve HInM into a high-performing, AI-enabled organisation able to lead and deliver innovation at greater pace and scale
To deliver the strategy, HInM will strengthen its own organisational capability and productivity. Through our Organisational Development and Transformation (ODT) plan, we will build the skills, capacity and culture required to operate at greater pace, scale and commercial maturity.
We will pursue an ambition to become a fully AI-enabled and highly productive organisation, embedding digital tools and AI across strategy, delivery, analytics, programme management and corporate functions.
