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
80% of AI projects fail to scale beyond the pilot phase (Healthtechdigital.com, 2025)
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.