Highland Launches Elevate – Bringing Health Tech Direct to the NHS

Key Takeaways

• 500 NHS staff attended first Elevate showcase
• Event reached executives, clinicians, procurement, and frontline workers
• 10+ NHS providers schedule Elevate events for 2026
• Suppliers gained direct access to decision‑makers, boosting engagement
• Trusts use feedback to shape multi‑year digital strategies

Summary

Highland has launched Elevate, a health‑tech event series that brings technology suppliers directly into NHS organisations for a single‑day, whole‑organisation showcase. The inaugural event at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton in October 2025 attracted 500 staff—from the chief executive to frontline clinicians—and a mix of multinational and niche vendors, directly informing the trust’s 2026‑2030 digital strategy. Following the success, at least ten NHS providers have committed to hosting Elevate events in 2026, extending the model to integrated care systems. NHS leaders and suppliers alike praise the format for unprecedented access and real‑time feedback.

Pulse Analysis

The NHS has long struggled with fragmented supplier engagement, relying on lengthy procurement cycles and siloed demonstrations that rarely reach the full spectrum of staff. Elevate disrupts this paradigm by consolidating senior leadership, clinical teams, and operational units into a single, immersive day where technology vendors can demonstrate solutions in context. This holistic approach not only shortens the feedback loop but also surfaces practical insights that traditional tenders often miss, positioning the NHS to adopt innovations that truly fit its complex workflows.

Beyond a single event, Elevate is reshaping strategic planning across trusts. The Derby showcase directly fed into the organization’s 2026‑2030 digital roadmap, illustrating how real‑time staff input can steer long‑term investment priorities. By extending the series to integrated care systems, the model encourages cross‑organizational collaboration, ensuring that digital solutions are compatible with both acute and community care pathways. This breadth of engagement helps mitigate the risk of isolated technology pilots that fail to scale.

For health‑tech companies, Elevate offers a rare opportunity to bypass conventional marketing spend and engage decision‑makers on the ground floor. Direct conversations with CEOs, digital leads, and frontline clinicians generate actionable intelligence that can accelerate product refinement and market entry. As more NHS providers adopt the format, the ecosystem could see a shift toward co‑creation models, where supplier innovation is driven by clinician feedback, ultimately delivering faster, patient‑centric improvements across the UK health system.