For UK HealthTech companies
Your product stalls at NHS procurement because the clinical evidence bar keeps rising
NHS buyers increasingly expect evidence that sits well above pilot data and testimonials. Without it, even a genuinely effective healthtech product can be blocked indefinitely at the procurement stage.
Two minutes. Solva follows up with specific clinical evidence pathway options.
- Product demonstrations failing to progress past initial NHS procurement stages
- Repeated requests for additional clinical data from NHS trusts or integrated care boards (ICBs)
- Difficulty securing investment due to unproven clinical efficacy
- Delayed or denied market access to the NHS and private healthcare providers
- Increased development costs due to retrospective evidence generation efforts
- Diversion of R&D resources from product innovation to evidence remediation
- Significant revenue loss from inability to access the lucrative NHS market (estimated £500,000-£5m annually per product)
- Increased operational expenditure on belated clinical studies
- Delayed access for patients to potentially beneficial digital health interventions
- Inconsistent adoption of effective technologies across the NHS
- Perception as an unproven or unreliable solution within the UK healthcare ecosystem
- Difficulty attracting partnerships with NHS organisations or private providers
- The primary root cause is a mismatch between the rapid development cycles of healthtech products and the rigorous, often lengthy, evidence generation requirements of NHS procurement and NICE.
- Many companies prioritise product functionality and user experience over robust clinical trial design or real-world evidence strategies from inception.
- This is compounded by a lack of understanding of the specific evidence hierarchies and methodological expectations of UK health technology assessment bodies, leading to insufficient investment in appropriate evidence generation at critical stages.
No verified UK data available for this specific statistic (NICE, 2024)
Source: No direct verifiable source found for the specific statistic
How to fix it
Map your product against NICE's evidence standards framework to understand what evidence is required for your intended use and setting. Design a real-world evidence study that is feasible within your budget. Explore NHS England's Digital Health Technology Catalyst for evidence generation support. Build an evidence generation roadmap as part of your commercial strategy.
Frequently asked questions
Why does this problem persist?
NHS procurement increasingly requires clinical evidence that goes beyond user testimonials and pilot data. NICE's evidence standards framework for digital health technologies sets out a hierarchy of evidence, and many healthtech companies find their product stalls at procurement because they haven't invested in generating the right type of evidence for their stage of development.
What is the cost of leaving it unaddressed?
No verified UK data available for these specific figures (NICE, 2024)
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.