Digital Health Unplugged: Why the NHS is so difficult to sell to

Jordan Sollof, reporter at Digital Health News, is joined by Lloyd Price and Mohammad Al-Ubaydli to talk about procurement and why the NHS is so difficult to sell to. From their own experience, Price, a healthtech founder, mergers and acquisitions advisor and non-executive director for various digital health companies, and Al-Ubaydli, founder and chief executive of digital health social enterprise, Patients Know Best, shine a light on the main issues that can make selling to the NHS a challenge. The pair discuss success stories of startups which have successfully sold to the NHS, before assessing whether companies and suppliers need to take more care in ensuring they are pitching the right solution to the right organisation. They give their views on whether the NHS procurement process has become overcomplicated, a point raised in a session at Rewired 2024, and speculate whether the forthcoming Procurement Act (which was originally due to come into force in October 2024, but has been delayed until February 2025) will solve some issues and make it easier for those selling in the health technology sector. Finally, the guests predict what they anticipate will happen in the coming months and years, including whether the NHS will become a simpler system as a whole to sell to or if we will still be having the same conversation about difficulties selling in a few years’ time. Guests: Lloyd Price, health tech founder, mergers and acquisitions advisor and non-executive director for various digital health companies Mohammad Al-Ubaydli, founder and chief executive of Patients Know Best