A year after coming to power, the Government have released their plan for NHS reform.
Following on from the stark findings of Lord Darzi’s review, the plan is ambitious, systemic, and radical. But will it be enough to fundamentally reshape the NHS to meet the requirements of a 21st century health system while retaining its unique approach and heritage?
With a true systemic approach, ranging from public health measures to tackle obesity to rebuilding NHS structures and operating models, the plan is clearly focused on delivering significant change. And in these changes, lie significant opportunities for diagnostics.
The announcement of neighbourhood health centres should see diagnostics placed closer to patients, enabling a truly one-stop service. The focus on a “genomics health service” offers an increased role for a technology the UK is a genuine world leader in.
And the promised acceleration of clinical trials will support all our industry to deliver our products faster and more efficiently. At the strategic level, diagnostics unlock the ability to intercept avoidable illnesses and to provide the data to inform genuine public health reform.
More broadly, better procurement and funding models will help resolve the perennial issue of diagnostics being assessed on the basis of cost, rather than value. The promise of value-based procurement and that “products to improve productivity will be procured once nationally and then made available through an internal marketplace” could be genuine game changers. Revisions to regulation, including some areas of mandatory funding post-NICE approval, are also welcome.
But as always, the devil lies in the delivery. The aims and ambitions of the plan are laudable, but is the increased use of AI the panacea the plan thinks it is? Is the will and the skill to deliver these aims strong enough in the NHS? And can the NHS really shift from dysfunctional analogue to digital without stopping, at least briefly, on functional analogue?
The answer is, it must. And as long as the Government provides support for our industry – by procuring our products effectively, regulating them proportionately, and creating an ecosystem where the UK is a priority market for delivery, not just development – the diagnostics industry will be a key partner in ensuring success.
BIVDA will continue to work with the NHS, the government, and stakeholders to ensure this happens.
You can read the plan in full here.