Posts by Scott McKenzie
How to get a product adopted by the NHS: Start with the pathway
How to get a product adopted by the NHS: Start with the pathway I’m seeing the same pattern repeatedly in conversations between NHS leaders and industry. The product is good. The evidence is credible. The strategic alignment is clear. The unmet need is real. Yet the opportunity still stalls. The reason is often simple; nobody…
Read MoreEmbedded Edge is now free: all my NHS insight and resources in one place
If you work in pharma, medtech or medical devices – or if you are a regular reader of my blogs – you will already know selling into the NHS is never about the product alone. Most professionals in the sector are technically strong. They understand the evidence and have honed persuasive, razor sharp arguments around…
Read MoreWhy the NHS Left Shift Isn’t Failing Because People Disagree With It
I’m starting to think we are talking about the NHS left shift in the wrong way. Not because the idea is wrong. In fact, most NHS leaders I speak to agree with the principle. Care should be delivered in the right place, by the right workforce, at the right point in the pathway. NHS left…
Read MorePathway Over Product – five questions from the front line
Following my recent webinar on why strong NHS strategies fail to land (which you can watch a replay of here), I opened the session up for questions. What struck me was not the variety of questions. It was the consistency. Although the attendees represented different companies, different therapy areas and different parts of the healthcare…
Read MoreHow to deliver neighbourhood healthcare: a practical NHS pathway redesign method
To turn neighbourhood healthcare into operational reality, NHS systems need to start with the pathway rather than the structure. The practical method is to map what is happening now, identify where pressure is being created and agree what needs to change. Throughout this four-part series on neighbourhood healthcare, I have argued that the agenda is often being misunderstood. Integrated Neighbourhood Teams are not really about…
Read MoreIf I were Yvette Cooper: I would turn the NHS strategy into a delivery plan
Yvette Cooper was appointed Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on July 20 2026, taking on what The King’s Fund has fairly described as an overflowing in-tray. She inherits the Health Bill, the abolition of NHS England, major changes to Integrated Care Boards, continuing waiting-list pressures, an unresolved social care challenge and an NHS workforce that has already…
Read MoreWhy some Integrated Neighbourhood Teams will fail to deliver NHS transformation
Integrated Neighbourhood Teams are rapidly becoming one of the defining operational shifts inside the NHS. Across the country, systems are talking about neighbourhood healthcare, integrated working, prevention, care closer to home and reducing reliance on hospital-based services. Conceptually, there is very little to disagree with. Most people support the idea that patients should experience more…
Read MoreThe organisations that will thrive in neighbourhood healthcare
For years, many organisations have approached the NHS in broadly the same way. Find a clinical champion. Generate interest. Run a pilot. Demonstrate outcomes. Then look for opportunities to scale. In a more stable NHS environment, that approach could often work, but today’s NHS is operating in a very different context. The problem is no longer…
Read MoreIntegrated Neighbourhood Teams are not about meetings
Everybody is talking about Integrated Neighbourhood Teams. Whether it’s the NHS 10-Year Plan, Neighbourhood Health Centres, place based care or integrated delivery models, the language is now everywhere. The direction of travel feels increasingly clear. Care should be delivered closer to home, organisations should work together more effectively, and services should be designed around populations…
Read MoreNHS Left Shift Part 4: What Top Gun Maverick Gets Surprisingly Right About the NHS
Every now and then, life hands you something quite rare, a bit of proper downtime. Recently, I found myself in exactly that position. No meetings, no calls, no slides to finish, no proposals to review. Just a quiet evening and the luxury of choosing something to watch without simultaneously answering emails. I decided to escape…
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