London Tech Week - Key Takeaways for the MedTech Industry
London Tech Week 2023 recently took place in the UK's capital, attracting many in the field of MedTech to discuss their challenges.
Across the course of an afternoon, discussions on topics such as unlocking digital health, AI's coming of age in MedTech, and rolling out digital healthcare on a global scale. Here are our key takeaways from the "Health and Wellbeing" tech talks at the conference:
The Future of the NHS
The NHS is open to embracing tech, but to be cost effective it has to be deployed on a large scale. Nicholas Markham, MP and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), discussed his vision to innovate and scale the NHS. He highlighted Innovate UK's provision of £123 million in support for AI-based solutions and the use of the NHS app for rolling out MedTech solutions. Addressing the regulatory barriers, Markham expressed the intention to expand and simplify the regulatory process, creating a one-stop shop for accessing the market. Notably, he hinted at a revised procurement pathway, which would serve as a unified point of sale of MedTech into the NHS.
Increasing the Footprint of Digital Health
While technology can assist in providing diagnoses, treatments and support, it needs to be accessible to cultivate real benefit, and tech companies have their role to play!
There is high digital literacy in the UK. However, approximately 10% of the population still cannot access digital health services. Strategies such as reducing data usage requirements and training are underway to improve accessibility, but accessibility needs to be kept in mind when designing your offering.
Looking at the bigger picture, many countries have far greater accessibility issues. The UN's Stop TB Partnership works past the accessibility issue by helping countries to formulate action plans, before integrating the technology into the national health system. Creating this level of alignment is key to meet Stop TB's mission of removing tuberculosis by 2030.
So, the key to success? According to the unlocking digital health panel, this lies in global collaboration rather than focusing solely on national efforts.
Healthcare on a Global Scale
Achieving market access in the UK is worth the time, effort and regulatory hoop jumping. The NHS is working on providing clear pathways to bring technology to the NHS market. The focus is on providing clearer information on demand signalling, commissioning work, pricing requirements, implementation, and adoption.
Comprehensive knowledge of the UK healthcare landscape and its bodies is crucial for successful product integration. The healthcare on a global scale panel were of the view that, whilst there are detailed regulatory requirements to meet to bring a product to market in the UK, this vetting process is widely respected and means that roll out into other jurisdictions is far smoother. In conclusion, this makes the UK a great place to launch and grow MedTech products.
The Future of AI in Medicine
AI is going to play a big role in the day-to-day of future medicine. The integration of AI into the NHS has huge potential to positively impact patient care and relieve strain placed on healthcare roles by improving treatment efficiencies. To name but a few possibilities:
- medical notes could be drafted contemporaneously as healthcare providers perform their rounds, or further to a few key dictated words;
- patients and family not fluent in the native language can be communicated with through real time translation; and
- bespoke treatment plans can be formulated based on access to genomic and real time health data.
There are countless possible benefits to embracing technology. However, this potential must be balanced with the need for responsible AI management and regulation. However, the Dr AI panel comment on whether they believed the effect of the proposed EU regulatory framework for AI was a step in the right direction.
Surgery Reimagined
New technologies are already being embraced… slowly. Owase Seelani, a renowned paediatric surgeon, shared insights on how technology can transform and advance complex surgeries. Seelani pioneered the use VR and AI to assist patients and their families conceptualise procedures and make decisions. However, he expressed disappointment at the limited adoption of such technologies, with only 1% of surgeries taking these on. Seelani highlighted three major asymmetries in global healthcare: knowledge, resources, and opportunities. He emphasised that technology has the potential to reduce inefficiencies and address these asymmetries through sharing knowledge efficiently. Seelani exemplified this by his use of VR headsets to plan a surgery for conjoined twins in South America, whilst based remotely from London. Without being able to share his knowledge, the operation wouldn't have been able to proceed.
The final takeaway from London Tech Week 2023? There is a great buzz around MedTech in the UK, and, with the government continuing to target the sector through its Life Sciences Vision and investment, the feel good factor isn't a passing trend.