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Maya Moufarek
Britain is in the midst of a healthcare revolution. The UK’s healthtech market, currently valued at £13bn, is projected to reach $37bn by 2030, growing at a rate of almost 20% year on year. This transformation isn’t just about numbers – it represents a fundamental shift in how we deliver and receive healthcare. As the founding CMO of Pharmacy2U Group, I saw just how effective technology can be in transforming the landscape of healthcare services in the UK.
The NHS is the cornerstone of UK healthcare, bringing unique challenges and opportunities. Last year, around 600 million patient contacts were made with GP, community, hospital, NHS 111, and ambulance services. This is equivalent to a staggering 1.7 million interactions with patients every day, or roughly 20 every second.
With an aging population, the scale of this demand is only set to grow. This means longer wait times and greater financial pressures. By 2050, the annual cost of England’s four biggest killer diseases could hit £86bn, a 61% increase since 2018.
The convergence of this rising demand and increasingly advanced technology has catalysed urgent change in British healthcare through healthtech innovations.
COVID-19 was a decisive moment for healthtech adoption. Before the first UK lockdown in March 2020, the NHS app had 1.5 million downloads. Only two and a half years later, downloads reached 30 million. The pandemic forced rapid adaptation, with 99% of GP practices implementing remote consultation platforms, radically altering how patients interact with healthcare services.
The UK has emerged as Europe’s healthtech leader, with investment increasing ninefold between 2016 and 2021. The UK also outpaced the US market’s 3.4x growth during the same period. Granted, we started from a smaller base but impressive nonetheless. This growth is set to continue with the UK forecast to see a 50% increase in global R&D healthtech spending over the next ten years.
Technology is now revolutionising every aspect of our healthcare delivery, from training and prevention to diagnosis and treatment.
In medical training, virtual reality is delivering remarkable results improving surgical performance by up to 230% compared to traditional methods. In preventative care, innovations like Daniel Ek’s (the founder of Spotify) Neko Health and its comprehensive body scanning tech are raising hundreds of millions in investment while remote patient monitoring and wearable technology are becoming mainstream.
The NHS is embracing some of this change. The government recently announced that it will use AI to screen 700,000 women for breast cancer as part of a world-leading trial this year – potentially freeing up hundreds of radiologists and cutting waiting lists.
Accessibility has always been and will always be a key issue. At Pharmacy2U, our goal was to improve convenience and treatment levels for patients with repeat by bringing prescription management online. By focusing on scalability, customer-centric design, and automation, we transformed a patient experience that was effectively unchanged since 1734, when the first official chemist opened in the UK.
The uptake was staggering. We became the fastest-growing pharmacy in the UK, reaching a growth rate equivalent to opening an offline pharmacy every 2.5 days. In doing so, we delivered a 15% saving to the NHS in medication dispense costs – an £8bn cost line. Today, it is the 3rd largest pharmacy in the country for repeat prescriptions.
The healthtech revolution also brings important challenges. The reality is that 60% of patients still lack trust in healthcare AI. Robots may excel at tasks like counting pills, but clearly, they shouldn’t replace human healthcare workers entirely. Instead, let’s celebrate the emergence of new roles that combine technical and healthcare expertise.
Looking ahead, it’s likely that the UK healthtech market will continue evolving around four main themes: Apps, Platforms, Data, and AI. The sector’s growth is creating unprecedented opportunities and the UK’s position as Europe’s start-up champion puts us in a unique position to lead this transformation.
The healthtech revolution isn’t just an opportunity – it’s a necessity for the future of British healthcare. The UK has already shown it can lead in innovation. Now it’s time for patients and healthcare organisations alike – from local GP practices to major hospital trusts – to embrace this transformation. The technology exists. The market is growing. The opportunity is clear. Let’s make the UK the global showcase for how technology can deliver better, more accessible healthcare for all.
Maya Moufarek is an entrepreneur, investor and advisor. She was the Founding CMO of Pharmacy2U Group, the UK’s leading online pharmacy. For more information go to: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmoufarek/
