MedTech FUTURES conference highlights devices to save healthcare costs

The UK is facing a health care crisis, and the problems with the NHS – not least a catastrophic underfunding over the past decade – are so severe that a complete rethink of how we approach healthcare is needed.

That was the message from doctors at the Health Tech Enterprise’s MedTech FUTURES conference last week.

The March 1 event, held at Hinxton Hall Conference Centre, highlighted the need for technology solutions to address current unmet clinical needs within the NHS and ensure it delivers world class care for health problems.

One of the reasons the sector is seeing an annual growth rate of 20 percent is because telemedicine has been deployed out of necessity during the lockdown phases of the pandemic, giving Medtech companies, patients and healthcare workers the opportunity to implement initial changes.

“Eighty per cent of deaths from cardiovascular disease are preventable,” said keynote speaker and lecturer Dr Pegah Salaheshuri, Consultant Cardiologist, Royal Papworth Hospital. “We need to look at prevention and how technology can support improved patient experiences and outcomes.

“During a pandemic the NHS app has been adopted by just about everyone and it shows what we’re doing [the NHS] It can be dispensed without compromising safety.”

Supporting people to a good age is a key pillar of the NHS’s long-term plan, and Dr Liz Boulton, Director of Health and Care Policy, Age UK, shared data with delegates on how well some technological innovations are supporting an aging population in the UK.

Robert Tansley, Partner at Cambridge Innovation Capital, noted: “There is still plenty of opportunity in the downturn and VC funds are an important source of funding for innovators. Medtech is a particular favorite for them and VC funds have raised £1.13 billion in 2022 to invest.” In small and innovative British companies.

Stuart Angell, Chair of the Regulatory Affairs Working Group, British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA), confirmed that the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is working with medtech developers, manufacturers, suppliers and others to develop regulatory guidance that makes the UK an attractive market for medtech development.

The winner of the Health Tech Enterprise NHS Innovation Voucher Competition, sponsored by eg technology Ltd, at the event was Dr Luke Lintin, of Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust for his ‘Device for the treatment of stress incontinence in women’.

Dr Anne Blackwood, Chief Executive of the Health Tech Enterprise, said: “Innovation is everyone’s business within the NHS, it belongs to everyone. We all need better services, and technology has a clear role to play in delivering these services. The conference highlighted opportunities for activating innovation to make a positive impact on Patients and the value of technological innovation.

“I would like to thank all the experts who shared their ideas, experience and advice with our delegates during the conference and look forward to supporting the innovators as they seek to develop much-needed solutions within the NHS and wider healthcare systems.”