Pharma, medtech and device firms can be right at heart of 10-year NHS plan

Prevention is better than a cure. This old adage is cited as a fundamental principle of our healthcare service yet, operationally, the reality is often far from this. 

A new document from The King’s Fund, entitled Public Health and Population Health - Leading Together, could influence a pivotal change with a message which will be really important for pharma, medtech and device companies to understand. 

At the heart of the 10-year plan the Government is developing lies a prevention-led population health message. 

In essence, they are saying - Don't just build your services for those known to the system. Build them to also find those not currently diagnosed and therefore not being treated, who would normally turn up when they have an exacerbation of whatever the underlying problem is and they end up with a non-elective admission to hospital. 

(There’s an ongoing consultation that will lead to the publication of that document next spring.)  

Call for collaboration to address inequalities  

The King’s Fund document emphasises the importance of collaborative working if we’re ever going to address health inequalities and improve overall population health outcomes.  

And it really zooms in on the critical role public health professionals, policymakers and healthcare leaders need to play together to tackle the wider social determinants of health and reduce the disparities across our communities.  

The document talks about the need for a shared leadership approach, where different sectors and stakeholders in public health, local government, the NHS itself and all its constituent organisations work together to develop and implement a unified strategy. The problem is, the NHS is awash with strategy documents but it often comes up short in the implementation of the recommendations. 

It also mentions the real need to address population health challenges, in particular rising chronic disease rates and the widening inequalities gaps. 

But it highlights that cross-sector collaboration is required, rather than fragmented efforts and everybody doing their own thing. It will be really interesting to see how they might align public health with, for example, broader social and economic policies.  

Education and housing have a role to play 

The report also discusses the crucial need to integrate health and social care and wider public services.  

Primary care, social services and public health bodies are viewed as essential if we’re going to address those broader and wider determinants of health and seriously focus on prevention. Housing, education and employment will all play a role in this. 

Disparities remain despite best efforts 

Tackling and addressing health inequalities has been around for as long as I can remember but the disparities just remain. They are an absolutely key challenge for the NHS and wider partner organisations. The document stresses the need for laser-focused efforts on tackling and addressing health inequalities by targeting the under-served and vulnerable populations.  

But how do you come together to do that? I had a project last week where we were looking at implementing a very specific project and one of the things that was flagged was the average reading age of the adult population in this area was nine.  

That creates a real problem in how you communicate with people to help the implementation. That’s just an example of those wider determinants – education being one of them – that really need to be tackled.  

Read my article – Six ways to win an audience with the NHS – here. 

Digital revolution is a great opportunity to improve population health 

With prevention a core theme, the report advocates for more proactive approaches in preventing disease and prompting and promoting healthy lifestyles. It calls for a shift in resources and attention to upstream measures. This means focusing on the front end of the pathways and measures that tackle the real root causes of poor health, things like poor nutrition, lack of exercise and inadequate housing. 

Data and digital tools will play a key role. This links to Lord Darzi’s investigation into the NHS, as does prevention. Prevention was a big focus for Lord Darzi but he has a firm belief that data analysis and digital tools will be critical in improving population health.  

Both this document and Lord Darzi’s investigation highlight the importance of sharing data – interoperable systems, integrated health records, the use of digital platforms to help monitor a population (particularly in health trends) and the evaluation of interventions so services can be tailored to specific community needs.  

Leadership skills will be essential 

The document ties it all together by highlighting how essential it will be to develop our leadership capabilities at all levels in the health and care systems. Leaders mustn’t only have the technical expertise, they also need the skill to navigate the complex health challenges, foster a mindset of collaboration and promote the cultural shift that would be required within the organisations toward that prevention-led, population health approach. 

Pharma has a golden opportunity to embed itself in healthcare projects  

Clearly, if there’s collaboration within the healthcare system, pharma and med tech companies have a pivotal role to play. Here’s how: 

Read my article – Learn how to embed your products in NHS treatment pathways – here. 

1. Align with public health goals: They can work more closely with healthcare providers, and help co-create solutions that improve population health. That could involve collaborating with local health systems to implement real preventative care programmes.   One of the things I often highlight is they’ve got the ability to interpret the data in a way the NHS often doesn’t. The NHS is very data rich but often information poor, whereas pharma is data rich, with capabilities to draw deep insights from that and then supply tailored interventions.   
2. Address early stage interventions: If we’re going to focus on prevention then there’s an opportunity in there for pharma and med tech to offer products and services that address early stage interventions. The companies can explore partnerships, particularly around chronic disease management, in terms of prevention. Remote monitoring technologies are good, I’ve successfully helped to land projects over the years embedding those and aligning with the goal of reducing long-term health burden.   
3. Tackle health inequalities: This represents a very clear opportunity for pharma and med tech to develop and offer solutions to target the under-served populations. That could be through treatment options, community health-focused programmes, or technology innovations – anything contributed by companies that reach the marginalised groups can help reduce the disparities. It also expands their market presence.   
4. Leverage digital health innovation: If they can harness the growing emphasis on digital tools and developing products that integrate into the existing systems that monitor patients, track population trends and keep people at home and out of hospital, there’s a real opportunity in there for wearables and apps that help people better manage their own healthcare.  

If industry can align with the key messages from the document, pharma, medtech and device companies wouldn’t only improve patient outcomes, they would really embed themselves and strengthen their strategic role within the health and care system.  

It’s a good document, well worth the read. 

Keep your eyes peeled – the 10-year plan is due to be published in spring 2025. 

Scott McKenzie helps pharmaceutical, medical technology, and device firms get their products and services in front of the right NHS decision-makers. He helped to land no fewer than 53 new projects with the NHS in 2023 alone and has now developed a 12-month mentorship programme that helps individuals and teams get straight to the heart of the challenges of selling to the NHS. If you want to get your products fully embedded into treatment pathways, Scott can help. Get unprecedented access to key customer insights, proven tools, resources and strategies plus 1-2-1 coaching and decision-maker introductions to finally get your project over the line. Find out more here.