Judith Stewart, Director of Economic, Commercial and Business Development at PHTA resident Health Innovation West Midlands, recently presented at the MedTech Innovation Expo Birmingham. She shared her insights on what it really takes to succeed as a medtech innovator selling into the NHS...
The market is bigger than you think – but different to what you might expect
The NHS medtech market is one of the largest and most complex in the world. It’s also one of the most rewarding. We estimate the value of the market to be somewhere between £8 billion and £10 billion, with some projections suggesting it has reached £13 billion overall. That covers more than 600,000 individual product lines.
But here’s what surprises many innovators: the biggest spend categories aren’t the ones that make the headlines. Implants and prosthetics, surgical equipment, lab and diagnostic equipment, sterile procedure products, and IV equipment account for the lion’s share of NHS medtech purchasing. These are the everyday items that keep hospitals running, not the cutting-edge digital tools that dominate the conversation at conferences.
Digital and AI products, despite all the excitement and press coverage, currently account for just 3–8% of overall medtech spend. The NHS is still a relatively immature marketplace for many digital solutions, and adoption takes time. That doesn’t mean the opportunity isn’t there, but it does mean that realism about timelines is essential.
Solve a problem, not a technology challenge
One of the most common mistakes I see innovators make is leading with their technology rather than the problem it solves. I’ve met companies with genuinely impressive products – world-leading algorithms, platforms with no direct competitors -who struggled to sell a single unit. Why? Because they hadn’t clearly connected their innovation to a problem the NHS actually needed to solve, in the setting they were targeting.
My advice is simple: at the earliest stage of product development, talk to the people you want to sell to. Not just clinician friends who will be encouraging, but the actual decision-makers in the actual settings where your product would be used. The NHS landscape shifts quickly, and what was a burning problem in one setting two years ago may already have been addressed.
The NHS wants partners, not suppliers
This is perhaps the most important mindset shift for any company looking to enter the NHS market. The NHS is not looking for a transactional relationship. It wants to build long-term partnerships with companies that genuinely understand its needs, are responsive to its challenges, and are committed for the long haul.
What it doesn’t want is a company that generates excitement, gets the NHS to begin adopting a product, and then moves on to the next big thing. The NHS moves slowly by necessity and your approach to market needs to reflect that.
Think about what you can offer beyond the product itself: training, ongoing support, evidence generation, research collaboration. These aren’t nice-to-haves. Increasingly, they are the difference between winning and losing a contract.
Understand your procurement route before you build
This one cannot be overstated. There is no point in developing the most innovative product in your field if there is no clear route to procurement within the NHS.
We are seeing a significant shift towards centralised procurement frameworks. AI suppliers, ambient voice technologies, and a growing range of digital health products are now coming to market via national frameworks rather than individual trust procurement. If your product falls into one of these categories, understanding which frameworks exist — and how to get onto them — should be part of your go-to-market strategy from day one.
I’m currently supporting a brilliant local company that has a genuinely innovative product with real NHS applications. The challenge we’re facing together is that no existing procurement route fits what they’re doing, so we’re having to create one. That takes time and resource that delays access to sales and income.
Build your evidence with the NHS, not around it
Evidence is everything in NHS procurement – but not all evidence is created equal. A short case study from a different healthcare system, or a small pilot from three years ago, will only get you so far.
What NHS organisations increasingly want is to be part of the evidence-generation process. We’re seeing this clearly in some of the AI projects we’re supporting in the West Midlands, where local hospitals are integral partners in building the evidence base and they actively welcome that model.
So instead of asking a trust to validate evidence you’ve already generated, consider asking them to help you build it. It changes the dynamic entirely — from supplier and customer to genuine collaborators — and it produces evidence that is directly relevant to the NHS context in which you want to sell.
The Midlands opportunity
For those of you based in or interested in selling into the Midlands the regional picture is genuinely exciting. We’re projecting around 55% growth in the medtech market across the region, with particular strength in surgical equipment and robotics. The West Midlands has recognised strengths in genomics and precision medicine. And with a growing focus on moving care from hospital into the community, there is significant demand for innovations that support remote monitoring, frailty management, and prevention, (although this last one can be a tricky business case to demonstrate).
Procurement is also moving forward; for example, the Birmingham and Black Country area in particular has a forward-thinking procurement collective that is actively exploring new models of purchasing – including value-based procurement, which looks at the total value a supplier brings, not just the unit cost of the product.
If you are a Midlands-based innovator, there has never been a better time to be having conversations about how your product fits into the regional NHS landscape.
What’s next?
The NHS medtech market is complex, but it is absolutely worth navigating. When you get it right, you don’t just make sales, you make a genuine difference to patient outcomes and NHS efficiency.
At Health Innovation West Midlands, we exist to help you do exactly that. Whether you need support with evidence generation, help identifying your procurement route, or introductions to the right NHS partners, we’re here.
This article originally appeared on the HIWM website.
Get in touch with the team to find out how they can support your NHS market access journey: Discover@healthinnovationwm.org
HIWM also has a new webinar series ‘Unlocking the NHS: From Concept to Contract’ designed specifically for health innovators. This programme will provide practical guidance on navigating the NHS landscape, strengthening your innovation offer, and successfully scaling within the health system. Find out more about the series.
