About this event
- Date and time Tue 7 Jul 2026 from 1:00pm to 5:00pm
- Location Royal Society of Medicine
- Organised by Digital Health
Healthcare systems are under increasing pressure to innovate with clinicians often being at the forefront of the problems that need solving. However many do not know where to begin, what support exists or how to navigate areas including, funding, procurement and adoption.
This practical half-day event will focus on the early stages of the clinician entrepreneurship journey and will advise early stage, frontline practicing clinicians interested in entrepreneurship on how they can take their first steps in identifying a problem to developing, testing, funding and adopting a solution.
Why attend?
Aims of the event
- Equip practicing clinicians with a practical understanding of entrepreneurship and innovation alongside clinical careers.
- Help clinicians identify real-world opportunities for innovation, as well as how to access support, build early evidence and take the first steps towards adoption and scale.
- Provide attendees with practical knowledge, real-world insights and actionable next steps for exploring entrepreneurship and innovation alongside clinical work.
Key topics:
- Moving from clinical problem to innovation opportunity.
- The NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme and related support routes.
- Building early evidence and validating an idea.
- Funding pathways for clinicians, including grants and early investment.
- Pilots, procurement and adoption in the NHS.
- Designing for inclusion, health equity and real-world value.
- Common pitfalls and practical next steps for clinicians.
Learning objectives:
- Identify the practical steps, common pitfalls, unmet needs and early evidence requirements involved in moving an idea into a viable product or service for NHS adoption.
- Recognise entrepreneurship pathways available to practicing clinicians, including NHS and government support routes.
- Evaluate early-stage funding and support options relevant to clinician innovators.
Who can attend?
- Clinicians interested in entrepreneurship.
- NHS innovation and digital health leaders.
- Practical system experts.
- Founders and academic innovators.
- Investors and policy professionals.
- Senior NHS and industry stakeholders interested in building, funding, scaling or adopting a digital health venture.
RSM members enjoy free access to over 200 expert-led events each year, including CPD-accredited learning.
Become a memberFollow us on:
Agenda
View the programme
Session 1: From Clinic to Company: First Steps, Evidence and Funding
Registration, tea and coffee
Welcome and introduction
Keynote - Entrepreneurship and innovation pathways for clinicians with ideas
Tamsin Holland Brown, NHS
NHS to startup, portfolio careers, avoiding mistakes
James Somauroo, NHS
identifying the problem, and building an MVP
Speaker to be confirmed
FPM and revalidation
Dr Sheuli Porkess, NHS
Early funding and common pitfalls
Pam Garside, NHS
Tea, cofee and biscuits
Session 2: Navigating NHS & Government Support
RSM Innovation lead
Nara Orban, NHS
Health Innovation Network representative
Rishi Das Gupta, NHS
Evidence, validation, and traction
Speaker to be confirmed
Tea, coffee and biscuits
Session 3: Health Equity, Storytelling, Inclusion & ROI
Storytelling to uncover unmet need
Dr Vernon Bainton, Chief Medical Officer, Havas Lynx
Example of tech with health equity angle
Dr Nick Gompertz, Ear Switch
What role for the patient in entrepreneurship?
Andy Lavender, NHS
Inclusive innovation
Bola Grace, UCL
End of the 2026 Digital Health Section Curriculum
Dr Alice Byram, President of Digital Health Section, RSM
Drinks reception
Annual General Meeting
Section members only
Location
Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole St, Marylebone, London, W1G 0AE, United Kingdom
Registration for this event will close on 6 July 2026 at 8:00am (GMT). Late registrations will not be accepted.
The agenda is subject to change at any time
If the event is recorded, we are only able to share presentations that we have received permission to share. There is no guarantee that all sessions will be available after the event, this is at the presenter’s and RSM’s discretion.
All views expressed at this event are of the speakers themselves and not of the Royal Society of Medicine, nor the speaker's organisations.
This event will be recorded and stored by the Royal Society of Medicine and may be distributed in future on various internet channels.