The UK is facing a healthcare crisis and clinicians at Health Tech Enterprise’s MedTech FUTURES Conference highlighted the need for technological solutions to meet the current, unmet clinical needs within the NHS and ensure it delivers world-class care for major health problems.
Lee Heathfield
“80% of cardiovascular deaths are preventable,” said keynote speaker and panellist Dr Pegah Salahshouri, consultant cardiologist, Royal Papworth Hospital. “We need to be looking at prevention and how technology can support improved patient experiences and outcomes. During the pandemic, the NHS app was adopted by almost everyone and it demonstrated what we [the NHS] can do without compromising safety.”
Supporting people to age well is a fundamental pillar of the NHS’s Long Term Plan and Dr Lis Boulton, health and care policy manager, Age UK, shared data with delegates on how successful some technological innovations have been to support the UK’s ageing population.
Overcoming the barriers to developing technology for use within the NHS was high on the agenda, with medtech developers hearing from experts at Cambridge Innovation Capital, and the British In Vitro Diagnostics Association, on how to successfully secure funding and navigate the evolving EU and UK medical device regulatory landscape.
Robert Tansley, partner, Cambridge Innovation Capital, said: “There are still lots of opportunities in a downturn and Venture Capital Trusts are an important source of funding for innovators. Medtech is a particular favourite for them and Venture Capital Trusts raised £1.13 billion in 2022 to invest in small innovative UK companies.”
Stuart Angell, chair, Regulatory Affairs Working Party, British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA) highlighted that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is actively engaging with medtech developers, manufacturers, suppliers, and others to understand their pain points and develop regulatory guidance that makes the UK an attractive market for medtech development.
Sponsored by Venner Shipley, the event was a platform for speakers from across the healthcare, healthtech and medtech sectors including Dr Pegah Salahshouri, Dr Lis Boulton, Stuart Angell, Dr Robert Tansley and representatives from Deloitte, InHealthcare, RAND Europe and more. The event included a full agenda of presentations, an interactive panel discussion and workshops, hosted by science writer and broadcaster, Vivienne Parry.
Concluding the event was the Innovation Voucher Competition Awards, sponsored by eg technology, which celebrated the winner of the Health Tech Enterprise NHS Innovation Voucher Competition: Dr Luke Lintin, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust for his “Device for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence in women”.
Dr Anne Blackwood, CEO, Health Tech Enterprise, said: “Innovation is everybody’s business within the NHS, it belongs to everybody. We all need better services, and technology has a clear role to play in the delivery of these services. The conference highlighted opportunities to get innovation into action to deliver a positive impact on patients, and the value of technological innovation. I would like to thank all of the experts who shared their insight, experiences, and advice with our delegates during the conference and look forward to supporting innovators as they seek to develop the solutions that are so desperately needed within the NHS and wider healthcare systems."
