Parliament & HealthTech Conference 2020: Key takeaways

The Health Tech Alliance held its inaugural Parliament & HealthTech conference on 28 January 2020, giving industry an opportunity to engage with delegates from across government, parliament and the health system.

The Conference, hosted by Labour MP Steve McCabe and chaired by Dame Barbara Hakin, the chair of the Health Tech Alliance, heard from a host of speakers, including secretary of state for health, Matt Hancock and Dr Sam Roberts, chief executive of the Accelerated Access Collaborative.

Panellists across the board agreed that the future of healthcare is inextricably intertwined with the wider adoption of health technologies, but clear obstacles were also identified. Technologies have to be developed in partnership with the workforce and patients or they risk alienating the very people they are seeking to help. Richard Stubbs, chief executive of Yorkshire & Humber AHSN also suggested that workforce issues are arguably the most pressing area in which health tech can help to make positive changes, while Rachel Power of the Patients Association stressed that patient trust would be integral to driving uptake.

The panel also discussed how healthcare services can do their bit to better integrate technologies, with Professor Heather Tierney-Moore OBE of NHS Supply Chain citing the need for NHS to increase its risk appetite. Delegates were however, reminded of the challenges faced by hospitals, which always have a plethora of metrics of success to consider.

The panels also discussed the practicalities of adoption, with NICE’s Joanne Holden stating that a lack of data-sharing arrangements with health tech companies made it hard to measure successful uptake. Professor Tim Orchard of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust cited the need for greater training of clinicians on issues such as big data and AI, although it was noted that this would add further layers of complexity to their day-to-day roles.

Highlights of the conference of course included the two keynotes, Dr Sam Roberts, chair of the Accelerated Access Collaborative, and secretary of state for health, Matt Hancock. Both keynotes spoke passionately about the huge progress that has been made by the government and the health service in prioritising health tech and acknowledged the barriers to adoption. Indeed, Matt Hancock’s announcement of a £140 million AI award at the conference represented further proof of the government’s continued commitment to the UK life sciences sector.

It was evident that while there is still much to be done, conferences like these, which bring together so many disparate the voices from across the system are essential to fostering greater collaboration. The input of bodies from across the health service, patients and the workforce are necessary at all stages of product development and implementation to achieve widespread adoption. In working together more closely, stakeholders can agree on metrics of success and understand the challenges of embedding new technologies in care pathways. While different organisations have different priorities, the Parliament & HealthTech Conference demonstrated that we all share a common desire to see more technologies across the health system and are united in our efforts to deliver this.

The Health Tech Alliance is a coalition of health technology companies and stakeholders from across the NHS and wider health system.