Turning medtech innovation into NHS adoption
By Lily Spencer, EatMoreFruit Communications
There is a huge opportunity for MedTech to help manage patient cases across the NHS, with a current median wait time for treatment standing at 13.8 weeks, almost doubling from 6.9 weeks in March 2019.
Getting your tech in front of the right eyes within the NHS can be a challenge – so we’ve consulted with one of our past clients who has successfully navigated the NHS procurement process…
“There is no one size fits all across the NHS,” says Alison Tyrrell, VP Marketing within the HealthTech industry.
“The first important factor to consider is that each trust or primary care network will have their own strategy agenda, you need to understand what they need and how your product can be of value to them.”
Addressing an unmet need
Consider your positioning: How will your product or solution support and improve care pathways within the NHS?
What is the current landscape of the specified treatment area? Is there a key issue that your product is able to solve? What are the challenges faced by the patient? How will your product work to improve, streamline or change existing care pathways?
With a complex procurement framework operating within the NHS, marrying your solution with effective communications tools is fundamental to success and this starts with identifying your key stakeholders. From carefully-crafted content that will resonate with them to the right strategy and content mix, including email, social and PR can inform and engage your audience and develop awareness amongst early adopters early in the procurement process.
Moreover, your business case will be bolstered by your value proposition; consider your evidence and product claims, the ROI for those purchasing the product, and the way it will directly impact patient lives.
Communicating the benefits
Your comms plan is vital in ensuring your product is relevant and recognised by the key NHS decision makers. Telling the story: The way in which you communicate the benefits of your MedTech innovation plays a huge role in building credibility for your brand.
A well-crafted communications programme can highlight patient outcomes, amplify success stories with trial or pilot sites, and position your product as a potentially life-changing or saving solution.
Engage your stakeholders with speaker events featuring early adopters, bring experts together for a roundtable discussion, create content that speaks to clinical results, and help to establish authority for your MedTech innovation.
“My team and I hosted a roundtable with key individuals across the NHS, including some customers, to transparently ask them ‘how can we reach out and communicate with you in a valuable way?” said Tyrrell, emphasising that in order to connect with your stakeholders, you need to listen their preferences and “cut out all of the activity that just won’t work.”
The Sell
How can you begin the process of selling into the NHS?
In 2021, the NHS introduced the MedTech Funding Mandate (MTFM) to support the adoption of medical technology into the NHS, which looks at three key criteria: The technology must be 1. Effective, 2. Cost-saving within three years, and 3. Affordable to the NHS with the budget impact not exceeding £20m nationally.
There are five ways to sell into the NHS:
- Direct to an NHS Trust
This involves a good understanding of the procurement process and building relationships with the right stakeholders at your chosen trust. - The NHS Supply Chain
This comes with the benefits that all NHS buyers will be able to access and purchase your product via online catalogues. - Collaborative purchasing agreements
This allows for organisations to work together to develop regional purchasing arrangements. - NHS national framework collaborations
This enables groups of private providers to submit collaborative purchasing contracts to the NHS. - Government tenders and contracts
These are agreements through which the NHS buys goods, services, or works from external suppliers, ensuring fairness and value for money.
Each option has its own benefits; selecting the best route in depends on factors such as your product’s scalability, the target market, your budget, and your ability to navigate the NHS procurement processes.
Tyrrell also speaks to the importance of identifying the right individual to support the sell: “Who is actively trying to tackle the challenge your product can solve? And who makes the decisions? Roles are not uniform at NHS and often you have one person wearing many hats and trying to juggle many responsibilities, making research to find your key person quite challenging.”
Leveraging regulatory bodies
Recently, NICE announced a reform to its HealthTech programme, to support and drive more technology into the NHS, which will look at removing the requirement for solutions to be cost saving before they can be recommended for use to the NHS.
Mark Chapman, director of HealthTech at NICE, said: “Our transformation aims to deliver clearer, quicker and more targeted guidance that fits NHS priorities.
“We want to identify and accelerate the adoption of the most effective devices, interventions, digital solutions and diagnostic tools into the NHS, where they can transform patient care and outcomes.
“We’ve already cut guidance development time without compromising quality. This is the next step.”
From her experience, Tyrrell draws a key focus on evidence based research, citing “these are professionals looking for real solutions to help their community, they will choose the vendors and partners who can show proven results”.
This development could open doors for many MedTech products that may not immediately show cost savings but could still significantly improve patient care or quality of life.
Ultimately, selling into the NHS is a process which relies on a multitude of factors; your brand offering, your communications plan, and the way in which you engage your key stakeholders.
Moreover, once you make entry with one Trust, you will be rewarded with the clinical data and results that can further fuel the opportunity to refine and expand your solution across the NHS.
