A technology-driven overhaul of the NHS could add £40bn a year to the UK economy and increase healthy life expectancy for millions, a new report suggests.
The study outlines how using artificial intelligence for earlier disease diagnosis and preventative care could deliver major economic benefits alongside improved health outcomes.
By targeting health inequalities through predictive, personalised and preventative care, two to three million healthy life years could be added annually for the UK’s five most economically deprived groups, according to the research.
The report was co-authored by Boston Consulting Group, Siemens Healthineers and Imperial College London. It was commissioned by the NHS as part of its 10-Year Plan.
Ben Horner, managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group and a co-author of the report, said: “By embracing technology and data-driven innovation, the NHS could add over £40bn to UK GDP annually.
“This would improve patient outcomes, easing pressure on frontline services and boosting productivity across the system.
“The foundations are already in place; now is the moment to shift from pilots to full-scale implementation.”
The findings follow the UK Spending Review on 11 June, in which Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a £29bn NHS funding increase.
This equates to a 3 per cent annual rise and will bring the total NHS budget to £226bn by 2029.
Within that, £10bn has been allocated to what Reeves described as moving the “analogue health system into the digital age”, increasing the NHS technology budget by almost 50 per cent.
The report highlights AI-powered early diagnosis of diseases such as cancer as a major driver of improved outcomes.
It also notes the potential of remote patient monitoring tools to help prevent conditions like high blood pressure and hypertension – both risk factors for coronary artery disease (narrowing of the heart’s arteries), stroke and cancer.
According to the research, these technologies could generate between £12bn and £18bn in annual productivity gains for NHS healthcare systems.
The report also forecasts that integrating diagnostic data into NHS research and development could halve drug development timelines.
This could lead to operational cost savings and commercial data revenue worth £10bn–£15bn a year for the NHS.
