For UK HealthTech companies
Your NHS pilot worked. So why is procurement still going nowhere?
Positive feedback does not create a contract. NHS commissioning involves multiple organisations, misaligned budget cycles, and procurement routes that most pilots were never designed to navigate.
Two minutes. Solva follows up with specific NHS commercialisation options.
- Healthtech solutions demonstrating strong clinical outcomes in pilots but failing to secure long-term contracts
- Founders constantly seeking new pilot opportunities without converting existing ones
- Investor reluctance to fund companies stuck in 'pilot purgatory' due to lack of scalable revenue
- Prolonged sales cycles extending far beyond initial pilot completion dates
- Diversion of valuable resources (staff, time) from product development to managing non-converting pilots
- Inefficient use of sales and business development efforts on short-term engagements
- Significant lost revenue opportunities from innovative solutions failing to scale
- Reduced investor confidence leading to difficulties in securing follow-on funding
- Damage to the healthtech company's reputation as a reliable long-term partner
- Perceived inability to navigate the UK healthcare market effectively
- The NHS is not a single buyer, leading to complex and fragmented commissioning decisions across multiple organisations and varying procurement processes.
- Budget cycles often do not align with pilot timelines, causing significant delays.
- Furthermore, successful pilots frequently necessitate fresh, lengthy procurement processes or DTAC compliance before wider deployment, creating a 'pilot purgatory' where innovation struggles to transition to sustainable contracts.
80% of AI projects fail to scale beyond the pilot phase (Healthtechdigital.com, 2025)
How to fix it
Treat every pilot as a sales process from the start. Agree on clear conversion terms, success metrics, and a defined pathway to a contract before the pilot begins. Identify internal champions with budget authority and scope out DTAC compliance evidence collection during the pilot itself.
Frequently asked questions
Why does this problem persist?
The NHS is not a single buyer, and commissioning decisions are complex, often involving multiple organizations and varying procurement processes. Budget cycles rarely align with pilot timelines, leading to delays, and successful pilots often require a fresh, lengthy procurement process or DTAC compliance before wider deployment.
What is the cost of leaving it unaddressed?
No verified UK data available
This is exactly what I do with UK private practices. Answer the few questions above and I'll come back personally with where to start. Paul.