Webinar Replay: How to Sell to the NHS in 2025

Yes, absolutely. As discussed, the approach I advocate is pathway centric, not product centric. Whether it’s a biosimilar or a novel product, the question is the same, how does it solve an NHS problem across a defined patient pathway?  

Branded generics and biosimilars can unlock efficiency and budget headroom if positioned within a broader strategic commissioning framework, particularly when part of a managed switch with measurable outcomes. Novel products need the same thinking, how do they support transformation, reduce variation, and deliver measurable improvement in quality, efficiency, or outcomes? 

Yes, their role is becoming more important, particularly as the system shifts from transactional procurement to transformational commissioning. HINs can bridge innovation and adoption, particularly where Provider Collaboratives and ICBs are commissioning outcomes and looking to scale proven models.  

If you’re not engaging HINs today, you’re potentially missing a valuable ally who can help validate, pilot, and spread solutions aligned to NHS priorities. 

This is where your offer must be positioned as transformational, not additional. If the value proposition looks like more work, it will be rejected. But if it looks like capacity release, efficiency, CQC compliance, or QOF uplift, the door opens.  

As indicated in the webinar, you need to align to existing pressures (e.g. Core20PLUS5, elective recovery, long term conditions, etc). Use the Four Project Tests from my model to validate and co-design your offer with clinicians and managers in advance, so it solves their problem, not yours. 

Yes, but only if you adjust your strategy. NICE approval is necessary, but no longer sufficient. Under the new strategic commissioning model, ICBs and Provider Collaboratives will increasingly ask, what measurable transformation does this support?  

If your launch aligns with an ICB priority (e.g. reducing unwarranted variation, admissions avoidance, or health inequality), and you can evidence that with pathway data, uptake is far more likely. Work to build that case before formulary discussions. 

That’s the direction of travel. The NHS Confederation and Lord Darzi’s report both emphasise transformation over transaction, and that means taking a longer view.  

Medicines Optimisation teams are increasingly part of pathway redesign and outcomes based approaches. But you still need to meet them halfway. If you can demonstrate year one value and longer term system benefit, you’re speaking their language. 

System pressure and budget constraints, especially if leadership doesn't enforce a strategic commissioning mindset. Old habits die hard. That’s why you must de-risk transformation projects. You might for example offer outcome guarantees, pilot pathways with measurable ROI, and link savings directly to NHS metrics. When you show how long term gain and short term wins coexist, you neutralise the risk averse response. 

We’re already seeing this shift being explored in several regions, where Medicines Optimisation might become integrated into Provider Collaboratives or hosted by large trusts. The timeline varies, but the logic is clear; as commissioning gets more strategic, providers take on more delivery accountability, including for prescribing optimisation.  

Pharma and medtech companies need to start engaging both ICB MO leads and provider led Medicines Optimisation services. Be prepared to speak to both strategic and operational agendas. 

Managed services are extremely well positioned, if aligned with strategic commissioning. They offer a route to financial headroom (e.g. VAT efficiencies), operational relief (e.g. diagnostics or outpatient backlog management), and measurable quality improvement (e.g. via clinical audits or tech-enabled monitoring).  

The key is to embed them in a pathway solution, not sell them as a bolt-on. Your model must speak to capability uplift, CQC readiness, and workforce substitution, not just equipment provision. 

CSUs are evolving. Some are contracting or merging; others are becoming specialist support hubs, particularly in analytics, business intelligence, and programme delivery. While they won’t lead strategy, they will enable it, especially for ICBs with stripped down internal capacity.  

If your project involves complex data, population segmentation, or pathway redesign, a CSU partner may be a powerful enabler. Don’t underestimate their relevance, especially behind the scenes. 

Having said that, early indications from the leaked 10-Year NHS Plan confirm that all Commissioning Support Units (CSUs) will be abolished as part of a major drive to streamline NHS structures and cut bureaucracy. This aligns with Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s commitment to “tear through the tangled web” of NHS organisations, with over 200 bodies, including CSUs, set for closure. CSU staff were reportedly informed in late June that their roles would be coming to an end, although exact timelines remain unclear. Services such as data analytics, procurement, and business intelligence are expected to be absorbed by Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) or central NHS bodies. 

For pharma, medtech, and device companies, this represents a significant shift in the operational landscape. Engagement should now pivot toward ICBs, particularly those with strengthened internal teams or hosting arrangements for CSU style functions. It also signals the need to build relationships directly with provider collaboratives and strategic commissioning units, ensuring that pathway aligned solutions are supported by the decision-makers now set to take over responsibility for service transformation, data insight, and implementation support. 

Good question, and a common concern. The solution is to work with either the NHS customer themselves, who keep us at arms length and away from patient data, or use independent delivery mechanisms, (e.g. nurse services, consultancy partners, or audit platforms) to enable compliant engagement.  

You design the audit framework with the NHS but don’t collect or view patient data yourself. You fund or facilitate value added services that the NHS co-owns, and critically, ensure all materials are non-promotional and ABPI compliant. The CQC 2 and 4 cycle audit model I discussed is a prime example of how to stay on the right side of compliance while delivering measurable value.