Full report - Establishing a Health and Care Quantum Innovation Centre

FULL REPORT: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Summary report available here.

The UK government is backing quantum computing with a £2 Billion investment in
the 2025 compute roadmap and identifies quantum as a strategic long-term
investment. This document is a feasibility study, commissioned by UK Science and
Technology Network and National Health Service England (NHSE) and conducted by
Health Innovation North West Coast (HINWC) to explore current understanding of
and potential use cases for quantum computing within the UK's health and social
care system.

Data collection included 29 interviews with subject matter experts, 3 workshops, a
site visit to the Cleveland Centre in the USA and desktop research between April and
July 2025 to:

• identify health and care system needs
• establish relevant use cases
• pinpoint areas that could benefit from this emerging technology.

Most interviewees expressed strong support for developing advanced computing
capabilities in the UK context including quantum computing. Experts cite its unique
advantages in addressing complex health and social care problems that may have
only “small” or limited datasets, such as pharmaceutical development, clinical trial
optimisation, personalised medicine, system optimisation and rare disease
management. Experts also refer to the limited understanding of quantum computing
and the need for clearly defined use cases.

The study highlights that quantum computing is still in its early stages, facing
challenges in costs, regulations, operations, data management and workforce.
Despite these hurdles, the risks of not developing quantum computing capabilities
may be high, potentially leaving the UK behind in this field.

This study’s key recommendation is the creation of a Health and Care Quantum
Innovation Centre (HCQIC). This centre would be a single access point for advanced
computing, integrating quantum computing with high-performance computing (HPC)
and artificial intelligence (AI). This could allow health and social care to explore
where HPC is accelerated by AI and then where AI can no longer support and where
quantum is needed. It would offer open access to resources, foster collaboration,
support funding applications, and be built on a foundation of governance, ethics,
education and public engagement.

This report suggests different operating and funding models for a HCQIC and
identifies potential KPIs for the centre, focusing on health outcomes, research
outputs, operational metrics, economic effects and engagement. Several operating
and funding models are suggested, including a central hub, hybrid and NHS-centric
approaches.

While quantum computing alone is not a sole solution, it is a critical component of the
advanced computing ecosystem needed to solve pressing health and social care
challenges. Regarding these challenges, it is anticipated that quantum has the
potential to support the three core shifts required by the NHS 10-year Plan 2025 -
2035, namely:

• From hospital to community: shifting care to be more accessible at home and
• in the community.
• From analogue to digital: using new technology to help staff and allow patients
• to manage their own care online.
• From sickness to prevention: focusing on reaching people earlier and making
• it easier to make healthy choices

Quantum computing excels at solving specific complex problems that are effectively
impossible for even the most powerful classical supercomputers. Potential use cases
identified for healthcare have included accelerating drug discovery by simulating
molecular interactions, personalising medicine by analysing large genomic datasets,
and enhancing diagnostics through quantum-enhanced imaging and AI. Other
applications could include optimising radiation therapy plans, improve clinical trial
design, and developing new quantum-resistant encryption methods to protect patient
data.

Investment will be needed for the UK to develop domestic quantum computing to
realise the benefits for the NHS, wider health and care, and the UK’s reputation on
the global stage in advanced computing. It is hoped that findings from this report will
be a valuable asset in this journey.