Redefining Care and Rehabilitation through Innovation

Meet the Digital Health and Care Leaders of Today – Part 1 

As the UK’s number one digital health event, HETT celebrates the people and organisations driving meaningful change across the health and social care system. 

At this year’s show, we had the opportunity to sit down with some of the innovators leading that transformation. In this first part of our series, we meet two digital health leaders who are redefining how care and rehabilitation are delivered through technology, collaboration, and compassion. 

James Coleman – Founder, Life Analytics 

James Coleman is the founder of Life Analytics and creator of Facial Dynamics, a digital neurorehabilitation platform that uses augmented reality and remote monitoring to deliver personalised facial therapy for stroke, Parkinson’s, and other neurological conditions. 

With over a decade of experience in software design, working on clinical safety and remote care technologies across secondary and community care, James combined his expertise in medical product development with his interest in augmented reality to create accessible rehabilitation tools that can be delivered at home.  

He now works with clinicians across the UK and Europe to explore how this technology can support therapy across a range of conditions. 

Life Analytics is transforming how facial palsy and motor conditions are assessed and supported. From your perspective, what’s one area in rehabilitation or remote care that deserves more focus as digital tools evolve? 

Most people know that their smartphone or smartwatch can track their steps or how long they spend standing each day, and they might use this data to try to be more active. But it still requires a bit of setup, and the information certainly doesn’t go back to your clinical team.  

As a developer, I can access this data, but it’s still very siloed. I’d like to see more collaboration between the big hardware manufacturers and governments to get this useful information to clinicians and identify people at risk of future problems years in advance. 

Then there are more advanced features, like taking SpO2 and ECG readings with your watch, fall detection, and accessibility tools – for example, making a backup copy of your own voice, limiting your phone to only a few apps to make it easier to use, or even controlling your entire device by just moving your eyes. All of these are possible now without third-party services, but I doubt most people would be aware of them. I’d like to see more education and awareness around these features. 

The area that deserves more focus in the future is what devices can do in the present. Most people only scratch the surface of what the device in their pocket can do, but I’m interested in making the very most of it.

Your session at HETT explored how AR can support remote speech and language therapy and facial retraining. What kind of response did you get from the audience, and did any conversations at the event spark new ideas for your work? 

The response was fantastic. No one ever said, “I’ve seen all that before,” “That’s a rubbish idea,” or “It’ll never work” – and no one did at HETT either. 

No one had ever seen anything like Facial Dynamics, and everyone ‘gets it’ immediately. It’s really easy to understand our use case, and most people have some experience of stroke, Bell’s palsy, or Parkinson’s, so they can empathise with the project. 

Our stand was very busy for at least an hour after the session, and we’re now speaking to potential investors we met at HETT. One person in particular, who watched our session and came over straight away, was from NHS Highland. They have to manage thousands of very remote people and are looking for solutions just like ours – solutions that can reduce the need to transport people away from their homes, saving time and cutting their carbon footprint. 

Analysing facial movement using everyday mobile devices raises important questions around privacy and trust. This was a big theme at this year’s HETT show, with many discussions around responsible digital innovation. How do you approach these challenges when developing tools that handle such sensitive information? 

Our facial data is processed in such a way that you couldn’t recreate someone’s appearance from it. We track things like “how open each eye is” and “how much someone is smiling with either side of their mouth,” which are stored as percentages. We don’t measure distances or any other metrics about someone’s face. There’s a chance you might be able to say, “these two recordings look like they were made by the same person making the same movements,” but that’s it.  

In any case, the data is transferred securely and encrypted at rest, just like the rest of our video and text data, in accordance with best practices. Once on our system, only the care receiver’s existing clinical team has access to their data – not even I can see it. 

Getting people to actually use new digital health tools isn’t always easy. What have you found helps patients and clinicians stay engaged? And for those starting out in digital health, how can they create tools that really make an impact? 

There are things that people are instinctively nervous about, like using the app in the first place: “Is it going to be easy?” “Am I going to understand it?” etc. I’ve been aware from the start that my target audience for this project is likely to be less comfortable using mobile apps. This is where I bring in my experience of designing medical and mobile software for over a decade. Early feedback has been really good, and once you’re logged in, you only need to use two buttons for the rest of the app. 

Beyond that, there are the things specific to my app that help keep people engaged, i.e., the augmented reality masks. These came about from the simple feedback that people don’t do their facial retraining because they’re uncomfortable looking at a mirror image of themselves. 

They’ve now evolved beyond that to allow people to see highlighted facial features, block facial features, and even mirror the movements from the unaffected side of their face onto the other. Clinicians have never been able to do this before, so the masks have become a therapeutic tool. Clinicians and I are working together to create masks that will make rehab and retraining more effective. 

The masks are keeping both clinicians and care recipients engaged because they serve a purpose for both of them, and that’s really key to any digital health tool. Both parties have to see the point. It has to play an active role; otherwise, it’ll be forgotten or ignored. 

The most difficult part we’ve found, especially with facial palsy, is showing the difference it’s making and demonstrating the results. Facial palsy rehab is a very gradual process, taking weeks, months, sometimes years, and big changes are difficult to see. Our service will allow people to see the long-term changes that would’ve been forgotten if they weren’t using it. 

Any tool not only has to be attractive to use, but also immediately feel like it’s worthwhile. In our case, it’s the promise of achieving the results you were already working towards, but earlier. 

Dr Gurnak Dosanjh – GP & Deputy CCIO, NHS LLR ICB 

Dr Gurnak Dosanjh is a GP and Deputy Chief Clinical Information Officer at NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB. He has a portfolio career spanning clinical practice and system leadership, including roles as Clinical Lead across community care, urgent and emergency care, and cancer services.  

He also serves as Chair of the Midlands CCIO Network, supporting collaboration and knowledge sharing among clinical digital leaders across the region. Driven by a commitment to reducing health inequalities, Gurnak is focused on ensuring digital transformation improves access and outcomes for all patients. He is a strong advocate for patient empowerment and inclusive care design. 

Your work spans digital transformation across NHS programmes. From your perspective, what’s key to ensuring these initiatives deliver lasting impact for patients and the system, and how do you build commitment across teams to embed that change sustainably? 

Digital transformation isn’t about deploying technology; it’s about redesigning care around people.  We have to align digital programmes with clinical and operational priorities, starting with very clear patient outcomes, measurable system benefits, and a shared purpose that clinicians, operational leaders, and digital teams can all get behind. 

Embedding change sustainably depends on co-design, not top-down delivery. That means involving frontline clinicians, patients, and other partners from the start. There has to be a genuine effort to collectively own, design, and implement the change. Change fatigue is real, but when people see digital tools making their daily work easier and safer, they become champions for change. 

Sustainability depends on building digital confidence and capability across the workforce. Every project should leave behind stronger data literacy, better system understanding, and more empowered teams. That’s how we ensure transformation becomes business as usual. 

In your HETT panel, you explored real-world AI in primary care. Where do you think AI can genuinely reduce clinical workload, and where should we be cautious? 

AI can be a real enabler where it tackles the administrative load that contributes to burnout. In general practice, tools that help triage patient requests, summarise records, or support clinical documentation can free up valuable time. 

There’s also huge potential in using AI for population health, such as risk stratification, early identification of deterioration, and supporting proactive care. These are areas where data-driven insights can help us intervene earlier and more equitably. 

That said, we must step carefully. At this point, AI shouldn’t replace clinical reasoning or fragment continuity of care. Bias in algorithms, challenges around, and poor interoperability can all undermine trust and widen inequalities.  

As a system, our focus should be on ensuring safe evaluation, creating robust governance processes, and building public and clinician confidence. There is a real risk that if we lose trust from either clinicians or patients, the benefits of AI can disappear. 

You also spoke about improving access to digital tools for mental health and whole-person care. What practical steps should systems take to ensure digital innovation is truly inclusive and improves access for underserved groups? 

Digital innovation must be designed with inclusion at its core. I am lucky to work in a richly diverse area (culturally, linguistically, and socioeconomically), and have seen first-hand that a “one-size-fits-all” approach rarely works. 

The first step must be co-production. This means reaching into communities and working closely with trusted community leaders, voluntary sector partners, and people with lived experience to design pathways and digital tools that reflect the realities of local life. You can only co-produce if you have all the voices at the table. I often suggest that designing for the most excluded is the starting point for creating an inclusive service.  

Access must be maintained through blended models of care. Digital should extend access, not replace it. Part of introducing digital tools also means empowering people to use them safely. We need to invest in digital health navigators, social prescribers, and trusted community partnerships to bridge gaps in digital confidence. As I mentioned earlier, digital transformation is less about the apps and more about redesigning care around the person. 

From reimagining rehabilitation to embedding digital confidence across the NHS, these leaders are proving that the future of health and care lies in collaboration, empathy, and design that puts people first. 

In the next part of our series, we continue our conversations with innovators creating more inclusive, data-driven, and equitable solutions for women’s health and neurodiversity. 

Don't miss our brand new event, HETT Leaders' Summit, taking place on 12th February at Royal Armouries, Leeds.