Business

Private sector startups can propel our NHS to a digital revolution

If the tone of constant media coverage is anything to go by, the NHS is one of our countrys biggest obsessions.

And as the health service approaches its seventieth birthday, its time for a reboot: a digital revolution is in order

Repositioning Britain as a global leader in healthcare wont happen overnight, and, of course, efforts to encourage innovation within the NHS have often failed to create impact at scale. So how can we cast the net wider, bring in more talent to address the problem, and build solutions for the NHS at twice the speed?

Read more: Quit doublethinking and ask the tough questions about the NHS

Enter private sector partners. There is a world of talent outside the NHS, and other industries are pioneering multiple technologies that could help solve real problems for patients in the UK and globally.

We should be embracing them. Its a known challenge that scaling up new technologies in a vast organisation takes a long time, so we should be starting now with testing and scaling up more health technologies outside the NHS, then implementing them at scale once theyre proven. The numbers back up a growing interest in this approach: more than £17bn has been invested in healthcare startups globally, over the past seven years.

As trained doctors ourselves, were aware of the scale of this challenge and are tackling it head-on, selecting talented entrepreneurs out of thousands of applicants, and helping them collaborate with both public and private sector before injecting their innovative ideas into the NHS.

For example, BioRegenerative Technologies is blending NHS experience with a private network. Founded by spinal surgeon Andrew OBrien, the company is taking aim at the enormous cost placed on the NHS each year due to musculoskeletal problems like back pain.

By developing treatments using a patients own stem cells to promote biological rebuilding of joints, tendons and bones without surgery, it is enabling self-healing, alleviating much of the strain off hospitals.

Orbitject is another startup that proves UK health-tech initiatives can think bigger than the NHS. Founded by Dr Ahmed Wobi, a neuroscience specialist, the Orbitject app monitors injections for patients suffering from diabetes. This will empower patients with complicated treatment schedules, maintaining their routine so they dont have to. Orbitject will help sufferers be less troubled by medication and treatment plans.

Then theres Feebris, founded by biomedical engineer and data scientist Elina Naydenova, born out of her work with the World Health Organisation. After working across the UK and India to make healthcare more accessible, she created an AI-based mobile platform that allows for monitoring of chronic conditions in societys most vulnerable: children and the elderly.

The ageing population in the UK is increasingly reliant on regular GP appointments and complicated health management programmes. Feebris is making management easier by monitoring conditions and alerting patients and their doctors to when extra attention is needed.

Were at a crucial turning point in healthcare today. As the NHS faces a digital dilemma, the world is on the cusp of a healthcare revolution.

But if we can follow the public-private sector blueprint these innovators are pioneering, Britain could become a global healthcare leader once more.

Read more: Dont let Home Office bureaucracy block overseas doctors from the NHS

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CityAM

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