PATIENT: HACKATHON 2026HR -- bpm
Admitting you…
Two days. Real NHS problems. Your team, your solution, pitched to people who build things.
3 months of ElevenLabs Scale for each team member.
100 Lovable credits, 1 month of ElevenLabs Creator, free Pastest access and an e-certificate.
A natural next step into the MedTech Innovation Programme in the spring.
Is the need real and evidenced?
Does it fit? Did you use what you learned?
Could it work in the NHS?
Clear, convincing and on time.
Open to all University of Southampton students, from first years to postgrads. No experience needed: teams are mixed so everyone brings something different.
You know where care breaks down. You’ll keep the team grounded in what patients and staff actually need.
You bring the evidence. You’ll test whether an idea stands up scientifically.
You turn ideas into things. Devices, prototypes and how it would really work.
You make it real on screen. Apps, data and working demos, built in a weekend.
You make it viable. Who pays, how it scales, and a pitch that lands.
Law, psychology, design, or anything else. If you want to fix something in healthcare, there’s a place for you.
No experience needed. Medics, engineers, coders and business students work in mixed teams on problems the NHS actually has. Tap a stage.
Talks from founders and clinicians, then real time to build with your team and mentors.
Provisional programme: speakers and timings may change. An optional Saturday evening build session is to be confirmed.
Every team takes on a real NHS problem. We keep the briefs under wraps until the morning of the event, so everyone starts from the same line, whatever their course.
No blank page and no made-up scenarios. Each brief comes with the evidence to show why it matters.
Some briefs suit a device, some suit software, some are about systems and people. Your team picks the one it wants to crack.
The briefs are opened straight after the first talk. You meet your team, choose a challenge and start digging into it.
Soton MedEntrepreneurs is a University of Southampton society for anyone interested in healthcare innovation, entrepreneurship and the business of medicine.
Thank you to the organisations making the weekend possible.
Fast-tracked micro-internship interviews for the winners, a judge, and an advice drop-in
Free platform access for attendees
100 free Lovable credits for every participant, and the tool we recommend for building
AI voice credits for every participant and a special award
A 12-month Clinical Skills Plan subscription for the winning team
Student Enterprise · Faculty of Medicine · School of Healthcare Enterprise and Innovation, University of Southampton
Clinicians, founders, engineers and researchers: give a few hours and shape a team’s idea.
Get in touch →Support the next generation of healthcare innovators, with prizes, credits, talks or food.
Get in touch →Open to all University of Southampton students. Sign up on your own or as a pair, and we’ll form balanced teams on the day.
Link coming soon. Check back shortly.
Yes. Most people haven’t. There are short teaching sessions, mentors throughout, and challenge briefs so you never start from a blank page.
No. The best teams mix medicine and healthcare with engineering, computer science and business. Every discipline has a role.
No. Sign up on your own or as a pair, and we’ll balance teams on the day.
No. The briefs are revealed on Saturday morning so that nobody gets a head start. You don’t need to prepare anything: the talks and mentors take you from problem to pitch.
No, but every team builds something. Our official build partner is Lovable: you describe what you want in plain English, and it builds a working app. Teams can also prototype a physical device. Mentors help you get started.
No. Both days run 09:00–17:00, so you go home and sleep. An optional Saturday evening build session is to be confirmed.
A laptop and charger, a water bottle, and any personal medication. Lunch and refreshments are provided both days.
Tell us on the registration form. The building is wheelchair accessible with accessible toilets on every floor, and there are quiet and prayer rooms on Level 3.
Your team does. We just ask that you don’t use real patient data, and that you credit any tools you used.
A one-page Team Canvas on Saturday, then a pitch deck (PDF) and a live pitch to the judges on Sunday afternoon.
There’s an optional, anonymous research study evaluating the hackathon (ERGO 117320). Taking part is voluntary and has no effect on your team, judging or prizes. Questions: [email protected].
We want everyone to feel welcome. Be respectful and inclusive, give everyone in your team a voice, and never share real patient data. Harassment of any kind isn’t tolerated. If something isn’t right, speak to any committee member or message us; we’ll handle it in confidence.