A healthier prognosis?

As an ageing, wealthier and more demanding population grows to expect more from the NHS, politicians are belatedly waking up to the huge role technology will play in delivering on their promises. For the first time the government and the medical technology industry are attempting to hammer out a common approach that will benefit the health and the wealth of the nation.

Over the next few months the recommendations of the Healthcare Industries Taskforce (HITF), a joint initiative between ministers and technology providers, are due to begin filtering through to tangible policy. Ministers are talking up the twin benefits of bringing new technologies into the NHS and stimulating growth in a sector that could deliver hi-tech jobs and export revenues for the UK. The industry itself is unsurprisingly delighted by the government’s attention, but is also keen to stress the urgency of acting on the recommendations.

John Wilkinson, director general of the Association of British Healthcare Industries, said a strong relationship between technology providers and the NHS was a vital component of a successful UK sector. This relationship has been erratic at best so far. According to Wilkinson, the NHS has often been a slow adopter of medical technologies. As the biggest single provider of healthcare in the world, this was hardly helpful to UK businesses operating in the sector. ‘It’s difficult to have a good industry base when you haven’t got a dynamic customer,’ he said.