With profound change in sight for the UK鈥檚 National Health Service (NHS), a new report indicates that a technology-driven vision for the national health system could add 拢40bn ($54.8bn) to the nation鈥檚 annual GDP.
Co-authored by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Siemens Healthineers, and Imperial College London, the report follows the UK Spending Review on 11 June, in which Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves announced that the NHS will receive a 拢29bn ($39.1bn) funding boost, reflecting a 3% annual rise on current levels over the next three years to reach 拢226bn by 2029.
Reeves also revealed that the funding would increase the NHS鈥檚 technology budget by almost 50%, with 拢10bn ($13.5bn) of the total funding earmarked to bring the 鈥渁nalogue health system into the digital age鈥�.
Commissioned by the NHS as input to its 10-Year Plan, which is anticipated to be released in early July, the report foresees that innovation in diagnosis has the potential to impact population outcomes through risk stratification and intervention to 鈥減revent disease and alleviate burden on the broader healthcare system鈥�.
According to the research, by addressing health inequalities through predictive, personalised and preventative care, two to three million healthy life years could be added to the five most economically deprived groups among the UK population each year, thereby boosting the UK鈥檚 GDP by around 拢40bn each year.
Harnessing AI
Achieving this aim would primarily be driven by implementing technologies such as AI for the early diagnosis of diseases such as cancer, the report stated. Also, the report envisions the deployment of AI and technologies including remote patient monitoring tools, to take preventative action on conditions such as high blood pressure and hypertension that are well-established predicates of life-threatening conditions such as coronary artery disease (CAD), stroke, and cancer.聽聽
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By GlobalDataIn turn, the report forecasts that the impact of technologies鈥� deployment in the NHS would deliver 拢12bn-拢18bn ($16.4-$24.7bn) in productivity gains for NHS healthcare systems annually.
By integrating diagnostic data into NHS R&D, the report also forecasts that drug development timelines could be reduced, resulting in new drugs being brought to patients up to twice as fast, with operational cost savings and commercial data revenue worth 拢10bn-拢15bn ($13.7bn- $20.5bn) to the NHS annually.
Ben Horner, managing director and partner at BCG and co-author of the report, said: 鈥淎s the UK Government prepares to set out its 10-Year Health Plan, this research highlights the scale of the opportunity ahead.
鈥淏y embracing technology and data-driven innovation, the NHS could add over 拢40bn to UK GDP annually. This would improve patient outcomes, easing pressure on frontline services and boosting productivity across the system. The foundations are already in place; now is the moment to shift from pilots to full-scale implementation.鈥�
