INSIGHTS

Thought leadership on healthcare, technology and equity

Policy interpretation, frameworks and evidence - written to connect strategy to operational reality.

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The Future of AI Regulation is Monitoring, Not Approval: The gap between regulatory ambition and operational reality

The MHRA's two new AI reports point UK healthcare in the right direction. Whether the National Commission's recommendations hold will depend on monitoring the NHS cannot yet perform, and an equity dimension still to be written into it.

SB
Shoshana Bloom · Jun 15, 2026

Industry Insights

The Single Patient Record: National Ambition, Local Variation and System Risk

The Single Patient Record was announced as a costed government commitment on 1 June 2026. Three days earlier, the body that investigates NHS safety described the data infrastructure it depends on as inconsistent, unstandardised and inadequately assured. There is a stark distance between those two documents.

Single Patient RecordNHS Modernisation BillDigital Health

Digital Health Equity

From consumer tracking to clinical infrastructure: what the next phase of wearables means for healthcare

Wearables have moved beyond simple activity tracking towards continuous physiological observation. What has changed is not their existence, but the range of data they can capture, the quality of that data, and the seriousness with which health systems are beginning to use them.

wearablesdigital healthNHS

Industry Insights

What happens to clinical judgement when AI does the thinking?

The use of AI in clinical settings has outpaced the competencies in our clinicians who use it. The evidence now tells us exactly where the risks are, and what needs to change.

clinical AIautomation biasdeskilling

Digital Health Equity

International Women's Day: Technology, Data, and the Gender Health Gap

Digital health tools, AI, and personalised medicine promise more equitable care — but their effectiveness depends on the quality of the data that underpins them. For much of modern medical history, those foundations have been incomplete when it comes to women.

gender health gapwomen's healthdigital health equity

Digital Health Equity

Designing for AI Health Equity: A System Responsibility

The dominant consideration of AI risk in healthcare still centres on data quality, as though representative datasets are sufficient to produce equitable outcomes. They are not. Risk stems from how datasets are constructed, how models are validated, how systems are governed, and how clinicians interact with them.

AI health equityNHS AI governancealgorithmic bias

Transformation Strategies

It's Complicated: The NHS and Innovators' Complex Relationship Dynamics

The NHS wants innovation. It really does. It publishes love letters in the form of 10 Year Plans declaring it wants to become the most AI-enabled health system in the world. And then innovators try to actually engage — and encounter the same old issues as before.

NHS procurementdigital health innovationSMEs

Industry Insights

The National Cancer Plan is Here: Digital-First Care Is Central to Delivery

The long-awaited National Cancer Plan for England has been released — the first dedicated cancer strategy since 2015. For the first time, it makes a clear national commitment to universal, digital-first prehabilitation for all cancer patients as a core component of the cancer pathway.

National Cancer PlanNHSprehabilitation

Transformation Strategies

Co-Design: Robust Patient Engagement or Just a Tick Box Exercise?

When the NHS procures a new digital health system, the business case is likely to mention the need for patient engagement. Procurement documents typically reference co-design principles. So that's all the right boxes ticked... right? Not necessarily.

co-designpatient engagementNHS procurement

Transformation Strategies

Co-Design: Robust Patient Engagement or Just a Tick Box Exercise?

The NHS requires patient involvement in commissioning, yet The King's Fund found that designing services with user involvement 'isn't routinely done.' When urgency drives implementation, robust iterative co-design takes a back seat to delivery deadlines.

co-designpatient engagementNHS digital

Industry Insights

ChatGPT Health: do we need to be concerned when commercial AI moves into personal health?

OpenAI's ChatGPT Health allows users to connect medical records and receive AI-powered health interpretation. We examine the regulatory gaps, equity risks, and system implications when commercial platforms become personal health infrastructure.

Industry Insights

When Climate, AI, and Equity Collide: Reflections from the IEEE SA Global Public Health Forum 2025

From satellite surveillance to ambient clinical documentation, the IEEE Global Public Health Forum showcased how AI is transforming public health. But implementation challenges around governance, equity, and workforce readiness remain critical barriers to safe deployment.

Industry Insights

70% of NHS Digital Health Technologies Lack Safety Assurance: What this means for transformation and equity

A landmark JMIR study reveals that only 17.3% of digital health technologies deployed across the NHS have documented safety assurance. We explore why this matters for patient safety, equity, and the future of digital transformation.

Transformation Strategies

The Economic ROI of Digital Health Depends on Equity: and it is costing the UK economy billions

Health inequalities cost the UK between £7-10 billion annually in direct healthcare costs alone. We explore why digital transformation must prioritize equity to unlock its promised efficiency gains and economic returns.

Transformation Strategies

Neighbourhood Health: Delivering Integration or Another Layer of Fragmentation?

Neighbourhood health sits at the heart of the NHS 10-Year Plan. We explore what it means in practice, how it differs from previous attempts, and why digital capability and equity will determine whether this model succeeds or becomes another layer of fragmentation.

Digital Health Equity

The Cost of Health Literacy: What this Means for the Future of Digital Health

Between 34-79% of adults globally lack adequate health literacy, costing health systems 3-5% of annual expenditure. As digital and AI tools become standard, we explore the economic imperative of improving traditional, digital, and AI literacy.

Industry Insights

The Jevons Paradox and Digital Health: Why Efficiency Can Increase Demand

New research in The Lancet Digital Health challenges the assumption that digital efficiency saves time and money. Drawing on the Jevons Paradox, we explore why AI and automation may expand demand rather than reduce it, and what this means for NHS strategy.

Transformation Strategies

Planning to Delivery: The Realities of Digital Transformation in the NHS

NHS England's Medium-Term Planning Framework sets ambitious digital goals for 2026-2031. We explore the realities of delivering this transformation, from workforce readiness to digital equity, and outline ten priorities for inclusive digital change.

Digital Health Equity

Confidence: a Key Determinant of Digital Health Use

Examines how confidence impacts patient and clinician adoption of health technology.

Digital Health Equity

The Digital Health Divide: Technology Alone Won't Get Older Adults Connected

How older adults face barriers to digital health adoption and what can be done.

Industry Insights

The Economist's Future of Health & AI Summit

Insights from The Economist events on AI, transformation, and equitable design.

Transformation Strategies

People, Process and the Realities of AI Adoption in Healthcare

Examines the challenges of embedding AI in real-world health settings.

Digital Health Equity

Digital Health Literacy: Underpinning the NHS's Shift to Digital and Equitable Care

Why digital health literacy is foundational to equitable NHS transformation.

Transformation Strategies

The Quiet Crisis of Continuity of Care

Why continuity of care matters in digital systems.

Transformation Strategies

Redesigning Primary Care in the Age of AI

Reimagining primary care through AI-enabled redesign.

Industry Insights

The Urgent Need for Adaptive AI Guardrails in Healthcare

Examines evolving governance for responsible AI in healthcare.

Transformation Strategies

Beyond the Pilot: Co-Design is the Foundation for Technology Development

How participatory design prevents failed pilots in digital health.

Transformation Strategies

Productivity will not save the NHS without people centred design

Argues for human-centred digital transformation in the NHS.

Digital Health Equity

Are We Measuring the Wrong Things in Digital Health Adoption?

Reframes how we define meaningful digital adoption.

Industry Insights

NHS 10-Year Plan: Digital Ambition vs Delivery Reality

Critical review of the NHS's 10-year digital roadmap.

Digital Health Equity

Digital Health Success Requires More Than System Capability

Digital maturity alone is not success; equity defines it.

Digital Health Equity

Digital Inclusion is a Strategic Imperative for the NHS

Digital inclusion is a strategic, not just moral, imperative.

Digital Health Equity

Digital Health Literacy: how we can achieve more scalable and inclusive adoption

Practical framework for improving health literacy and design.

Transformation Strategies

Understanding Barriers and Facilitators in Clinicians' Adoption of Digital Health Technologies

Evidence-based insights on clinician engagement and adoption.

Industry Insights

The latest NHS shakeup: what will it mean for digital transformation and patient care?

What NHS structural changes mean for digital care.

Industry Insights

7.5M patients waiting for NHS elective care - the untapped potential of technology

Technology's role in tackling elective care backlogs.

Digital Health Equity

The importance of nurturing Trust in health technology to improve adoption

Building patient trust to improve technology adoption.

Digital Health Equity

The Multifaceted Impact of Culture on Health Technology Use

Cultural perspectives on equitable digital health.

Digital Health Equity

Gender differences in health technology use?

Gender patterns and barriers in health technology use.

Industry Insights

Patient, the (artificial) doctor will see you now

Discusses Med-PaLM and the role of AI in clinical decision support.

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