• Government’s ambitions to solve NHS crisis lack sufficient detail.
• Collaboration with private sector and life sciences is crucial to tackle NHS backlog and provide much needed investment.
• Tax and fiscal incentives important to encourage investment in the sector.
• Regulation and procurement barriers must be tackled if innovative solutions are to feed through to the NHS.

15 October 2024

The UK government has made a commitment to solving the NHS crisis but is yet to provide any detail on how this will work in practice. Pressure is now building on the Chancellor to provide much needed clarity on plans for funding and investment into the healthcare sector in the upcoming Budget, says RSM UK.

Suneel Gupta, partner and head of private healthcare at the leading audit, tax and consulting firm RSM UK, said: “Resources in the NHS are significantly constrained, so it’s critical that the government also looks outside of the NHS to help tackle the issue. A key part of the solution may lie in harnessing the skills, innovation and capacity of the private sector. Increased collaboration with the private sector through partnerships and joint ventures is essential to tackle the backlog, drive innovation and ultimately, for the survival of the NHS. We saw this successfully play out during the pandemic, so the learnings from this need to be brought to the forefront again and accelerated.

“Understandably, there needs to be a win-win solution that suits all parties. The government may find it needs to offer additional incentives to the private sector, which could be in the form of more generous tax reliefs or providing grants to areas that need investment the most. That said, the government’s hands are tied in terms of finding more funding, and it may therefore need to look at alternative options in order to raise the necessary funds. One route could be to progress with its proposed changes to the NHS VAT regime, which would allow more than £10bn in VAT to be reclaimed.

“One of the health secretary’s areas of focus is on preventative care, but this is only possible through advanced data sharing, increased digital maturity and universal access to data and the necessary tools – something which the NHS currently lacks. There also needs to be a greater shift from a reactive culture to being more proactive. For example, investment by the independent sector in diagnostic imaging equipment, where the health service struggles to cope with shortages of machines such as scanners, would go a long way in helping with early detection and in turn, reduce pressure on the health service.

Laragh Jeanroy, partner and co-head of life sciences at RSM UK, added: “There’s also an important place for the life sciences sector in easing pressures in the NHS, given their access to additional resources and knowledge. The government’s latest announcement of trialling UK-created therapies for cancer in partnership with the private sector is a great example of this, and a positive step in the right direction. It comes hot on the heels of UK Research and Innovation announcing a £118m fund that will create five new hubs across the country to help develop new health technologies. The funding will be split between government and partner support, inviting businesses to support in kickstarting the economy and building an NHS fit for the future. But regulation and procurement barriers remain a burden; not only preventing innovation from reaching the NHS but also from reinforcing the UK as a life sciences powerhouse. It’s important these barriers are minimised if there’s a real chance of collaboration between the sector and the NHS.”