Cogniss partners with Health Innovation West Midlands to scale proven digital health innovation model
Cogniss has announced a new strategic partnership with Health Innovation West Midlands, the innovation arm of the NHS in the West Midlands of England. Together, they are launching Clinnovate WM, a digital health hub designed to accelerate innovation and scale digital solutions across the region and beyond.
Health Innovation West Midlands (HIWM), part of the Health Innovation Network, brings together academia, industry, healthcare providers, commissioners and citizens to improve the region’s health and wealth. As the West Midlands’s leading accelerator of health innovation, HIWM identifies, tests and advances ideas and technologies that can transform care. This new partnership with Cogniss builds on that mission, providing innovators a shared environment to develop, test and scale NHS-ready solutions at a significantly lower cost and with fewer compliance barriers.
Clinnovate WM centres on an innovation sandbox, a dedicated no-code environment where innovators can create, test and refine ideas prior to launch. Clinicians will learn how to create tailored patient-facing apps that include features like learning modules for education, consent forms for compliance, surveys for feedback, symptom or health tracking, and notifications for ongoing engagement.
Launching the Clinnovate WM sandbox and innovation programme
The programme is open to all clinical staff across the West Midlands, from GPs and nurses to allied health professionals and specialists. Participants should have a concept for an innovative app that addresses a real clinical need, supporting patient care and/or clinical efficiency, no coding experience required.
Two cohorts will run each year, with up to 10 clinicians in each cohort. Over six months, participants receive structured online training, expert mentoring and free access to the Cogniss platform.
Judith Stewart, Economic, Commercial and Business Development Director at Health Innovation West Midlands, says:
“Our goal with Clinnovate WM is to create an environment where clinical innovators can rapidly design, test and scale ideas that improve outcomes for patients and efficiency for the system. By combining our experience of innovation development and adoption with Cogniss’s powerful no-code technology, we can remove many of the traditional barriers to truly effective digital innovation in health and care.”
Building on a proven model for NHS innovation
The partnership builds on Cogniss’s successful collaboration with Health Innovation East for the Digital Health Hub, which was highly commended at the HTN Now Awards 2025. That model, with structured support, shared infrastructure and low-barrier access to development technology, has proven it can be a blueprint for scalable NHS innovation.
Dr Lloyd Humphreys, Managing Director at Cogniss, says:
“This partnership marks the expansion of a model that has already demonstrated real impact in helping innovators scale within the NHS. We are delighted to be able to empower wider local teams to co-develop solutions that make a difference where they’re needed most.”
For more details or to apply, visit the programme’s microsite. A live info webinar will be held on Wednesday 10 December, 12:30–1:15pm.
About Cogniss
Cogniss is a no-code ecosystem enabling healthcare experts and organisations to create and launch compliant patient-facing health apps. No coding or design skills required. With 100+ pre-built components that can be combined and configured to develop highly tailored solutions, Cogniss saves up to 90% in development time and total cost of ownership compared to traditional software development. On the other hand, the platform aims to streamline how health providers procure, deliver and scale these solutions.
About Health Innovation West Midlands
Health Innovation West Midlands (HIWM) is part of the national Health Innovation Network, funded by NHS England. It brings together academia, industry, health and care providers, commissioners and citizens to seek out, test and accelerate the adoption and spread of innovative ideas and technologies across the region and beyond. HIWM supports the healthcare system in taking advantage of innovations that can help save time, money and lives, strengthening the region’s future in health and social care.