Discover key facts about the healthcare market in the UK and learn about our latest market research for our pharmaceutical, medical device, and healthcare sector clients.
Key facts about the UK health market:
Funding in the UK healthcare system
The UK has a universal public healthcare system, delivered through the National Health Service (NHS). The majority of health needs, including hospital, general practice (GP), and mental health care, are funded through general taxation. A small proportion of the UK’s population carries voluntary supplemental insurance.
Health technology assessment in the UK
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) sets guidelines for clinically effective treatments and appraises new health technologies (both pharmaceutical and medical devices) in England for their efficacy and cost effectiveness. If NICE recommends the use of a pharmaceutical treatment, funding must be made available within 90 days for patients to access treatment on the NHS throughout England. Medical devices can also be recommended by NICE through an appraisal; however, they are not reimbursed until services are commissioned. Payers make their own decisions when commissioning services that lack NICE recommendations, and Devolved Nations may also choose to assess in the absence of NICE recommendation.
Wales and Northern Ireland usually adopt NICE guidance. Scotland has its own process, run by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC). The SMC reviews all pharmaceuticals for use in NHS Scotland, while the Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG) provides advice to NHS Scotland regarding medical devices.
UK HTA bodies’ primary focus:
Cost effectiveness is the key decision driver in the UK market for national reimbursement, although other considerations are made at other (i.e. regional, local, etc) levels of the system.
To discuss your UK launch strategy with our experts or to enquire about market research services, get in touch using the form below.
Helping our clients successfully launch in the UK market:
At Mtech Access, we provide a full UK market access service, from strategy to implementation. Our expert consultants work in multiple disease areas and can support you every step of the way. We have particular strengths in UK oncology and rare disease HTA submissions, where we have a 100% success rate.
“The situation was challenging, and I don’t think we could have got through the [HTA submission] process without the quality of the work, the complete understanding of the process, and fantastic project management delivered by Mtech Access.” – Head of Market Access, UK & Ireland, Pharma company
Post-marketing authorisation, our expert teams blend skills in health economics, customer communications, and payer insights to help deliver the right value messaging, reinforced by a strong economic argument, to the right people.
“The digital value communication tool [Mtech Access developed] is now being used by the field team, and we have been able to expand the access to this drug. It is an absolutely brilliant and incredible tool.” Market Access employee, Top 20 Pharma company
We use expert-led insights to ensure that these communications resonate with payers and healthcare professionals (HCPs). We ensure that any barriers to patient access (such as outdated clinical pathways) are highlighted, and provide the support to identify and navigate the changes that are required to improve/facilitate patient access.
“What Mtech Access do is unique. They have a set of people with varied and experienced roles who can translate between the NHS and industry, and offer industry real-time feedback.” Market Access Manager – Top 20 Pharma company
We enable our clients to work collaboratively in partnership with healthcare decision-makers/influencers to ensure that patients can access the best quality of care and providers can make the best use of the limited resources that they have available.
Explore the changing NHS environment for UK market access
Here are just a few examples of how we have supported clients launching in the UK market:
View Case StudyDelivering a White Paper to highlight national variation in care, and propose solutions for improving care across the NHS
View Case StudyConducting market research into the UK private healthcare market to inform market access and pricing strategy
View Case StudyUnderstanding the diagnostic market access landscape in the UK
View Case StudyUnderstanding changing perceptions of value in the NHS
View Case StudyExploring funding and reimbursement routes for digital health technologies across EU4, UK and US
View Case StudyResearching market access pathways, reimbursement requirements and implications of orphan drug designation for a rare disease product
View Case StudyGaining global payer insights to inform clinical trial design, price and market access strategy
View Case StudyReviewing HTA decisions in key markets across the globe
View Case StudyModelling pricing and market dynamics in a competitive therapeutic landscape across the EU4 and UK markets
More UK market insights and research
2024 updates to the ABPI Code of Practice Clause 12
Iain Shield (Associate Director – Market Access, Mtech Access) discusses updates to prescribing information (Clause 12) in the ABPI Code of Practice and the considerations for digital materials…
Insights and reflections from our transforming healthcare symposium
Discover how our symposium brought NHS and industry together to discuss the future of healthcare. We focused on innovation, collaboration, and transformation.
Evolving market access pathways for AI-enabled Medtech in Europe
Louise Maddison (Senior Consultant – Global Market Access, Mtech Access) explores the evolving market access landscape for AI-enabled Medtech, with a particular focus on the key European markets of France, Germany and the UK.
