Our vision is to support longer and healthier lives for everyone. We do this by facilitating joined-up healthcare through innovative IT.
Our markets
It has been another demanding year for the NHS as it tackles “the worst public health emergency for a century” ('Build Back Better', HM Government, September 2021). The second year of the pandemic saw the successful mobilisation of the largest vaccination programme in NHS history, increased adoption of technology and a growing concern for the long-term effects on the UK population of healthcare resources being diverted away from other care areas to focus on Covid-19.
The health and wellbeing of the UK population remains high on the government’s agenda, evidenced by a commitment to a 3.8% increased spend on the NHS over the next three years. The government’s September 2021 paper, “Build Back Better”, refers to “an unprecedented investment in health and social care”.
In the autumn 2021 budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed £2.1bn for NHS IT upgrades and digital health technology to allow NHS staff to spend more time caring for patients.
Technology at the centre
Use of technology remains in the foreground: in his October 2021 speech “Using the power of technology to make the world a safer and healthier place,” the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care highlighted that driving digital healthcare remains a vital priority. He told the audience of healthcare leaders: “Now we’ve seen what health tech can do at a time when health systems around the world were under incredible strain, we must build on the progress and deliver this long-awaited digital revolution.”
Using actionable data insight to improve healthcare
At the same time there is growing evidence of an increase in non‑Covid-19 related healthcare conditions emerging from the gap in care during the pandemic. For example, Cancer Research UK estimates that more than 45,000 fewer people started cancer treatment between the start of the pandemic and March 2021 due to disruption to cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment.
Increasingly it’s becoming clearer that collaboration between research and life sciences, academia, the NHS and the technology industry is the best way to address this challenge, with meaningful research into healthcare data at scale.
See the 2021 annual report and accounts for more detail on our markets.