Health Destination

United Kingdom Leading the way in Medical Technology

The UK medical technology sector generates an annual turnover of approximately $30 billion each year. It has a strong foundation of mostly small to medium-sized companies around the country, with clusters of activity in areas such as the South East of England and the Midlands. Many multi-national companies, including several leading US medical technology manufacturers, have head offices or subsidiaries in the UK. As a significant percentage of domestically produced products are exported, the country has a large import market making it very receptive to new and innovative international technology

The United Kingdom of  Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern pa of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the Noh Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The capital and largest city is London, a global city and financial center with a metropolitan area population of over 14 million. Other major cities include Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool and Leeds. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have their own devolved governments, each with varying powers.

The United Kingdom has the world’s sixth-largest economy by nominal gross domestic product (GDP), and the eighth largest by purchasing power parity. It has a high-income economy and a very high Human Development Index rating, ranking 18th in the world. It also performs well in international rankings of education, healthcare, life expectancy and human development. It is a recognised nuclear state and is ranked fourth globally in military expenditure. It has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946.

The United Kingdom is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Council of Europe, the G7, the Group of Ten, the G20, Five Eyes, the United Nations, NATO, AUKUS, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Interpol, and the World Trade Organization (WTO). It was a member state of the European Communities (EC) and its successor, the European Union (EU), from its accession in 1973 until its withdrawal in 2020 following a referendum held in 2016.

Healthcare industry

In the UK, the whole population is covered by the National Health System (NHS), which is financed through general taxation and run by the Department of Health. However, responsibility for the purchasing of health care services across the UK rests at the constituent country level: Primary Care Trusts in England, Health Boards in Scotland, local health groups in Wales and Primary Care Partnerships in Northern Ireland. Despite this coverage, there is an increasing trend towards private care and coverage, with 12% of the population contracting additional private health insurance.

Throughout the UK, there is a coexistence of public hospitals, private non-profit hospitals and private for-profit hospitals. While hospitals are mainly publicly owned and independently operated, they are organised as hospital trusts with three hierarchical levels: community hospitals, district hospitals, and regional or interregional hospitals, as well as a number of specialised hospitals offering advanced treatment.

Primary care services are provided mainly by General Practitioners (GPs), who also act as “gatekeepers” in providing access to secondary care. Across the UK, there are approximately 3.1 million healthcare and social assistance employees, representing 11% of national employment and 1.4 million employees in the hospital sector, with 67% of all physicians working in hospitals.

The role of technology

The UK medical technology sector generates an annual turnover of approximately $30 billion each year. It has a strong foundation of mostly small to medium-sized companies around the country, with clusters of activity in areas such as the South East of England and the Midlands. Many multi-national companies, including several leading US medical technology manufacturers, have head offices or subsidiaries in the UK. As a significant percentage of domestically produced products are exported, the country has a large import market making it very receptive to new and innovative international technology.

The largest purchaser of medical technology, the publicly funded National Health Service (NHS), accounts for approximately 85% of the country’s healthcare provision. It receives funding from central government but is essentially managed as four separate segments: NHS Wales, NHS Scotland, HSC Northern Ireland, and NHS England, each one delivering strategy and services both centrally and locally, through regional local authorities and other public or private organizations. Most medical technology procurement is carried out by the acute hospital trusts which spend an average of $6.6 billion on clinical supplies, including medical technology, per year. They have the option of purchasing goods through centralized procurement bodies or hubs, procuring products individually, or by joining with other trusts to form consortia for procurement decisions.

The private (independent) healthcare sector is considerably smaller and funded through health insurance, self-pay patients, or NHS funded referrals. Its strengths lie in the provision of secondary and tertiary care, fields not traditionally offered by the NHS (cosmetic surgery) or where public sector service is limited (dental care). The acute hospital sector is dominated by a handful of major hospital groups: HCA Healthcare, Circle Health, BMI Healthcare, Nuffield Health, and Ramsey Healthcare. There has also been the recent entry of US providers Mayo Clinic Healthcare and Cleveland Clinic London. Publicly funded adult social care services (home care, nursing, or care homes etc.) are commissioned by regional government councils however typically provided by private for profit or voluntary organizations.

2021-22 activity continued to be dominated by major legislative reform in England and COVID-19. The Health and Social Care Bill, which was introduced into Parliament in July 2021, drove the push to a system that delivers care via regional integrated services, collaboration and partnerships. As it undergoes radical change, the NHS is also facing the task of tackling the vast backlog of non-urgent elective surgeries and out-patient appointments which were postponed during the pandemic It is likely approved private providers will be able to assist with the backlog by offering some NHS funded elective care services.

Medical devices that are CE marked can be sold in Great Britain (England, Wales, and Scotland) until June 2023. The new UKCA mark will be required from that time. The CE mark will still be required in Northern Ireland.

Opportunities

The US is a leading supplier of diagnostic, dental, orthopedic equipment and high-quality wound care products to the UK. Within the digital segment there’s demand for clinical efficiency tools, innovative apps and wearables, health analytics tools, remote consultation tools, and monitoring devices that can improve clinical outcomes and patient experience across all areas of the healthcare system.

In the UK, it is currently mandatory for public sector organizations to advertise procurement opportunities over £10,000 ($13,000) on the UK’s Contracts Finder. A new provider selection regime is likely to be implemented via the Health and Care Bill. Firms can register on the Supplying to the NHS procurement portal to receive updates on business opportunities.

NHS Agencies, such as SBRI Healthcare , frequently host competitions in which companies are invited to bid for funding to develop innovative solutions for address particular health needs.

The NHS is a large and competitive organization that has a constant need for all types of new products and services. As it can be challenging to sell directly to the NHS from overseas, many U.S. exporters nd it easier to form pa rtne rships with we l lestablished local companies. This enables new entrants to take advantage of their partner’s market expertise as well as their access to buyers and other decision makers. Potential suppliers also have the option of approaching private sector healthcare providers through their procurement teams.