Posts by Scott McKenzie
Why strong NHS market access strategies fail to land – and what the system is actually responding to
Free webinar for pharmaceutical, medtech and device teams Selling to the NHS is never as simple as having a great product and waiting for the system to recognise it. You can have a project that makes complete sense. The clinical case is strong, the pathway benefit is obvious and the clinicians you speak to can…
Read MoreNHS Left Shift Part 2: The NHS doesn’t have a demand problem – but it does have a placement problem
Demand in the NHS is often described as “unmanageable”, but that’s not quite right. What the NHS actually has is demand showing up in the wrong place at the wrong time, delivered by the most expensive workforce in the least flexible settings. Hospitals are full of activity that is clinically appropriate but operationally inefficient and…
Read MoreThe Embedded Left Shift Support Programme Explained
A board safe, subcontracted approach to releasing acute capacity without destabilising hospitals The problem we’re actually trying to solve Across the NHS, there is growing consensus that some care currently delivered in acute settings does not require an acute environment. However, despite policy intent, many left shift initiatives stall or fail once they reach Trust…
Read MoreNeighbourhood Health Centres: The NHS Doesn’t Need More Buildings – It Needs This to Work
The NHS has just published its guidance on neighbourhood health centres and on the surface, it uses familiar language; integration, prevention, community based care and multi-disciplinary teams. We’ve seen all of this before, but this time feels different. Not because the idea is new but because the system is now being forced to operationalise it.…
Read MoreHow ICBs Balance the Books While Still Innovating: The New NHS Reality
The creation of Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) was meant to usher in a new era for the NHS, with greater collaboration, better population health outcomes, fewer institutional silos and a shift toward preventative care. But the timing could not have been more challenging. ICBs were launched into one of the most financially unstable periods in…
Read MoreWhy I’m hosting The Embedded Seminar
Despite considering it for a number of years, I’ve always resisted running an event. There are already plenty of NHS conferences – they’re all well intentioned and most of them are informative. Adding another one didn’t feel necessary. But over the last few years, I’ve worked inside NHS systems under real operational pressure while also…
Read MoreWhy the NHS and Industry Can’t Solve This Alone – and Why Independent Brokers Matter
There is a growing consensus that collaboration between the NHS and industry is essential. Rising demand, constrained capacity and the pace of innovation mean that neither side can meet future challenges alone. And yet, despite goodwill on both sides, many collaborations struggle to get off the ground or fail to move beyond pilot stage. The…
Read MoreWhy Good NHS/Industry Partnerships Fail Before They Ever Reach Patients
Most pharmaceutical, medtech and device companies genuinely want to work in partnership with the NHS. The intent is usually good. The frustration is real. Yet many partnerships fail long before they ever reach patients, often without either side fully understanding why. From the industry perspective, the experience can feel opaque and inconsistent. From the…
Read MoreFrom Pilot to Pathway: What Real NHS–Industry Collaboration Looks Like
There is no shortage of NHS/industry collaboration. There are pilots everywhere, innovation programmes in every system and no lack of goodwill on either side. What there is a shortage of is collaboration that genuinely helps frontline teams, survives governance scrutiny, and embeds into pathways rather than quietly fading once initial enthusiasm subsides. Over…
Read MoreStrategic Commissioning In The NHS: What The New Framework Means For Pharma, MedTech And Device Companies
On November 4, 2025, NHS England published the Strategic Commissioning Framework, setting out how Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) will shift from transactional purchasing to genuine population level stewardship. This document signals a shift in how decisions will be made, how priorities will be set and how resources will be allocated across the NHS in the…
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