The Health and Social Care Secretary of State, Wes Streeting, announced last month that the Department of Health and Social Care will expand its focus to boost economic growth (you can watch his speech here).

In a recent article in the Financial Times, Daniel Susskind, author of ‘Growth: A Reckoning’ and an economist at Oxford university and King’s College London says:

“securing growth will require a relentless focus on the discovery of new ideas, doing all that we can to make Britain the best place in the world to develop and adopt the most powerful new technologies of our time”.  He says we will need to invest in the people and institutions behind new technologies.  

Wes Streeting laid out 3 steps to drive the goal of growth in the healthcare sector:

(i) By cutting waiting times and improving public health, the government will support people with their health and speed up their return to work, while maintaining the good health of those in work.

(ii) The government will make the UK a life sciences and medical technology powerhouse. By ensuring the NHS works hand in hand with life sciences research institutions and medical technology companies, the government will drive the development of new treatments and help grow the industries.

(iii) The government will use the NHS and social care’s role as local and regional anchor institutions as engines of economic growth, by providing training and job opportunities to local people across the country.

We have set out below 10 ways digital health and care companies contribute to the Government’s growth agenda, with examples of what DHC members are doing today.

1. Innovation

Innovation drives growth. Innovation can lead to higher productivity, meaning that the same input generates a greater output. All of our members at the Digital Healthcare Council deploy innovative technologies that improve health and care.

2. Improving Health

As the BMA points out in a recent article, good health can drive economic success including through increased labour supply, improved productivity, reduced healthcare expenditure, and greater innovation. Health technologies can offer faster diagnosis and can stop people becoming unwell, improving health (see for example Preventx’s work on hepatitis C and HIV).

Lilli is a lifestyle monitoring technology. By monitoring trends and patterns of behaviour, its insights can help to identify health decline before conditions become acute, supporting care professionals to tailor care packages effectively.

3. Improving Access

Streeting has said that improving access to primary care is key to easing the wider crisis across the NHS and reducing pressure on hospitals.

Livi UK combines technology with a network of online healthcare professionals, enabling and directing patients to the right care in the right setting, creating a more sustainable and resource-efficient healthcare system. Livi is confident innovation can help us rebuild a sustainable national primary care model (see here).

Dr Fox offers easy to access and secure confidential medical consultations online.

4. Reducing Health Inequalities

Digital health can help address health inequalities by ensuring everyone gets the help they need – as well as being the right thing to do addressing health inequalities leads to a more productive and economically stable society.

Preventx has seen how successful a digital approach can be in increasing access to sexual health services amongst marginalised communities (more info here).

5. Productivity Enhancing Technologies

New technologies can increase productivity if they are implemented correctly, helping employees save time eg automating repetitive or mundane tasks or using their time on the tasks that add the most value.

In a recent blog Paul Corrigan asks: Can the NHS improve staff experience of increasing productivity? He acknowledges over the next few years, we have to increase productivity to speed patient flow through the system. This will require different uses of technology. He warns that if we cut the tech budget, we will fail.

TeleTracking’s end-to-end electronic bed and capacity management platform has helped ensure the most efficient and effective access, delivery, and transitions of care for patients at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.

Data from Buckinghamshire NHS Trust, where HBSUK’s Virtual Lucy service was deployed, reveals more than 95% of dermatology cases can be managed from the information and photographs provided by patients. Cases are usually reviewed within 72 hours (typical waiting times are at least three months). Only 50% of patients subsequently need a follow-up with a clinician.

6. Job Creation

The creation of more (high quality) jobs creates significant improvements to people’s living standards and well-being. This supports purchasing power and economic activities.

The HBSUK team has grown hugely since the company’s foundation in 2012. It has over 1,000 people delivering its services and a team capable of managing its work with Trusts all over the country, as well as developing its Virtual Lucy technology; a step towards a better future for healthcare

7. Build a Higher Wage Economy – upskilling workforce

A high wage economy is a precondition for a return to sustainable prosperity.

We are seeing more new training focused on improving the digital capabilities of healthcare staff. This is aimed at making the workforce more data-driven, with the end-goal of enhancing patient care and outcomes – see for example this project operated by NHS North London Mental Health Partnership.

8. Creating New Markets

A new market can be an engine for future growth. Forbes reports that the UK AI market is now worth more than £16.8 billion. The number of UK AI companies has increased by over 600% over the last 10 years and AI contributed £3.7 billion to the UK economy in 2022.

The largest estimated net job gains from AI over the next 20 years are predicted to be in the UK’s health and social care sector.

 HealthNet Homecare are building an AI-driven Predictive Analytics platform that could transform the way chronic diseases are managed in the community and support a more efficient use of NHS resources.

9. Attracting Investment From Overseas

EY reports that the UK attracted more digital technology Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects than any other country in Europe last year, according to EY’s 2024 UK Attractiveness Survey.

The report finds that the UK, and specifically Greater London, has continued to solidify its position as a leading global technology hub in cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence.

Significant opportunities exist here for investors and businesses developing and delivering innovative medical technologies integrated with digital health technologies, and across medical devices, genomics, and advanced diagnostics

10. Exporting British companies to international markets

Businesses that export are typically more productive, more profitable, more innovative and more resilient than their non-exporting peers.

The Government has announced it will launch new trade strategy to help deliver its growth mission, with UK businesses and economic growth at the centre. Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has said that boosting trade abroad is essential to deliver a strong economy at home.

Preventx has recently expanded into the US market and opened a lab in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Implementation is key
Implementation is key to the contribution digital health and care can make to the Government’s growth agenda. We know this is not easy.  

Our new Government should ask itself what it can do to help people implement good ideas for the long term in health and care.

At DHC we’re ready to help.