The founder and CEO of innovation coalition the Health Tech Alliance talks prioritising patient benefit over profit and how SMEs and startups better engage with the NHS.
As founder and chief executive of the Health Tech Alliance, Nick Lansman is plugged into an ecosystem of innovation that could welcome significant change for NHS patients.
Evolving from pathways that have “always been done that way”, however, to welcoming new systems and technologies in the “oil-tanker” National Health Service can be easier said than done.
Here, Lansman talks about the importance of closer collaboration between NHS and industry to solve real healthcare challenges and ensure that innovation reaches patients more quickly.
What are the biggest barriers to innovation adoption in the NHS?
In the past, people would come up with a great product or tech solution and expect the NHS to buy it if it worked and had safety certification. The reality is we’ve moved to understanding the problems patients face first, then delivering solutions. That shift is starting to happen.
Cardiovascular disease is still the biggest killer in the UK, and it’s growing worse in certain areas. We need targeted solutions, but one barrier is that unless industry understands the real issues, they can’t solve them. Equally, the NHS needs to clearly articulate its priorities.
Another major barrier is the time it takes for adoption. Reports show it can take up to 17 years for technology to achieve wide uptake. We get stuck in a cycle of pilots: one pilot shows good evidence, then we do another, and another, instead of scaling.
People also mistakenly think the NHS is one body where a single decision leads to nationwide adoption. It’s not, it’s a patchwork of different systems with different needs.
Then there’s the budget challenge. The NHS needs solutions that deliver good patient outcomes and cost savings, but with an ageing population, the pressure is immense. The problem is that big changes, like introducing new technology or redesigning patient pathways, rarely deliver savings in the first year. We need to recognise that return on investment may take longer.
Finally, evidence is a hurdle. With pharmaceuticals, you have randomised controlled trials, and NICE assesses cost-effectiveness. But with medtech, it’s harder. You can’t do a blind trial with a device, there’s no sugar pill equivalent. Building robust evidence is a challenge, especially when companies face endless pilots instead of scaling.
How do you ensure that collaborations between the NHS and private companies prioritise patient benefit over profit?
That’s exactly why I set up the Health Tech Alliance. Typically, when something is sold and purchased, the focus is on marketing benefits. Our approach brings together industry, patients, and NHS procurement teams to problem-solve collectively.
For example, if a patient pathway has been the same for decades, but new technology could transform it, the instinct might be to stick with the old way especially when staff are overworked. But we’re seeing cases where technology is so transformative that pathways have to change.
Some of our members have tech that prevents amputations or helps heart failure patients live normal lives. Minimal surgery means quicker recovery, shorter hospital stays, and people returning to work faster. That’s the kind of patient outcome we focus on.
The real challenge is change management. When technology disrupts long-standing practices, it’s tough but necessary.
“We need to help homegrown firms grow to the next level.”
What incentives could encourage private companies to invest in long-term NHS innovation rather than short-term gains?
The recent Spending Review was telling. There’s more NHS funding, including £10 billion for tech and digital transformation and £600 million for health data research. That shows the NHS and government recognise technology’s role in solving big challenges.
AI, for example, can speed up diagnostics, reduce backlogs, and even help clinicians with administrative tasks like notetaking, which improves both efficiency and patient safety. But we have to be realistic. With an eight-million-patient backlog, the NHS is like an oil tanker: change happens slowly. Some areas adopt innovations quickly but spreading them widely is the real challenge.
Local decision-making is important – the North-West has different issues from the South-East – but balancing local flexibility with national direction is key.
How can the NHS and private sector collaborate on health data sharing to drive innovation while maintaining patient trust and data security?
Interoperability is critical. A lot of progress has been made with electronic patient records, but data remains siloed, GPs have theirs, and hospitals have theirs. The NHS App is helping by giving patients one access point for their health information.
Legislation is also evolving. Sometimes well-intentioned laws, like copyright protection, unintentionally hinder health data sharing. But studies show patients are willing to share data if it improves care, they just need reassurance.
The Health Tech Alliance’s model works because we bring all sides together to solve problems collaboratively. The Care.data debacle years ago showed what happens when communication breaks down. Good collaboration prevents that.
How can SMEs and startups better engage with the NHS, given the dominance of large corporate suppliers?
Actually, SMEs already have good access points. Health Innovation Networks (HINs) help startups refine their ideas, and the Accelerated Access Collaborative supports promising innovations.
The bigger issue is scaling up. The UK has brilliant health tech startups, often from universities, but many get acquired by larger (often foreign) companies before reaching their full potential. We need to help homegrown firms grow to the next level.
There’s exciting work happening across the country where new innovations and technologies are being tested. The pipeline is strong; the challenge is adoption.
Do you think the NHS needs a dedicated innovation agency to facilitate industry partnerships?
They’ve tried that before with NHSX and others. The issue wasn’t the idea but the execution, these bodies often operated outside of the NHS. Now, the focus is bringing innovation functions back inside the NHS to avoid duplication.
We don’t need more standalone agencies. We need innovation embedded in the NHS’s core operations, with clear accountability and collaboration across regions.
