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Is The UK Still Open For Medtech Innovation And Reimbursement?

 
• By Ashley Yeo

Confusing and ineffective channels of innovation adoption and a lack of funding hamper the UK's reputation as one of the world's health care capitals and a driver of care excellence – in spite of its global brands, NICE, MHRA and the NHS itself. But changes that should transform market access are in place and are worthy of close attention in the next two to three years.

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Funded through direct taxation, UK health care is free at the point of care in the vast majority of cases, and has earned international plaudits, notably in a Commonwealth Fund study of 2014. In that international comparison of health care systems of 11 countries, the UK came out on top in nine categories. But it was notably poor in the Healthy Lives category, measuring such elements as infant mortality and quality of health at the age of 60.

The issue for the UK as many see it is the systemic underfunding of health care. UK health care services are demanded by a population of 65.1 million (June 2015) and growing, and yet the allocation of GDP to health care is studiedly mid-ranking at 9.12% (2014, including private expenditure), and well below the 17

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