One of the least expected statements last Sunday was when the UK Secretary of State for Health & Social Care said the NHS was addicted to overspending.  

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While many British politicians - of all parties - might privately have admitted this, it says a lot about the changing political environment that a Labour Minister felt able to make this statement publicly, although it did remind me of this clip from TV comedy classic Yes Minister.

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I'm not entirely sure this statement is the best way to sum up the complex challenge that healthcare systems face. Balancing unlimited demand for healthcare services with limited budgets is impossible and exacerbated by the growing ageing population.  

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In 1950 there was one retired person to every 14 in work. By 2050 this will be a ratio of 1:2. Simple demographics make funding healthcare an impossible task, even without considering the development of new and - extremely expensive - ways to keep people well.

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Thankfully technology is really good at addressing really difficult issues like this. The MedTech industry offers a really viable alternative to close the growing gap between demand and supply for healthcare.

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So for me the big issue for the NHS - and healthcare systems more widely - is less an addiction to spending and more how hard it is to adopt new technologies that can transform healthcare. Adoption of new MedTech has been an incredibly slow and challenging process. But, since Covid, things have improved dramatically and adoption is speeding significantly.

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We know this firsthand through our client Sky Medical Technology. The company has a transformative technology for the treatment of multiple conditions including life threatening issues such as Deep Vein Thrombosis as well as ongoing conditions such as leg ulcers. The technology is proven to reduce recovery time and save healthcare systems money.  

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And this is not the only MedTech pioneer. ALMo Biosciences has created a technology relevant to skin cancer that - within a pathology lab – is able to detect whether a patient is at risk of metastasizing within the next five years. It’s a simple prognostic biomarker test, which takes minutes. Current guidance is that patients are seen four times a year. This test could help determine which patients really need that frequency of consultation and which could be seen less frequently, saving time and enabling more patients to be treated.

Meanwhile, Procept BioRobotics, a company based in the Bay Area of San Francisco which has a technology to support patients with enlarged prostate glands. The company's image-guided heat-free robotic technology has a full five years of data showing remarkable outcomes for patients and a significant reduction in side effects compared to current treatment.