last week’s uk spending review . . .

The June 2025 Spending Review allocates an unprecedented £10 billion to NHS technology and digital transformation by 2028–29 representing nearly a 50% increase over 2025–26 levels. This together with a £29 billion real term rise in annual NHS day to day spending over the same period, reinforced the government’s commitment to modernise and digitise the healthcare delivery. The key initiatives include:

• the development of a “single patient record” and upgrades the NHS App into a digital front door for managing medicines, prescriptions, and appointments.

• an additional £2.3 billion capex for 2023/24 - 2029/30 to enhance digital infrastructure across hospitals and primary care.

• increased grants and awards to enable more NHS pilot sites, and extended pathways to encourage a wider range of NICE approved innovations.

Our take: these announcements together with the funding boost will continue to make the UK and the NHS an increasingly commercial attractive proposition for both domestic and foreign MedTech innovation and startups.

• unified patient records will reduce technical friction and support, at long last real time sharing of patient information.

• lower pilot costs, clearer reimbursement pathways will derisk the sector for MedTech startups and investors.

• interoperability reduces administrative overheads, optimises clinician’s engagement to deliver better patient care.

  it remains to be seem how effectively the government and the NHS can deliver on this but if they do, then the queasiness that many investors felt about the opportunity for doing business in the UK health sector will become a distant memory,