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At the recent HLTH Europe event in Amsterdam, I had the pleasure of participating in a panel discussion alongside Meridian Health Ventures and Quiddity Health focused on ‘Scaling in the new NHS.’ The energy and innovation at the event were truly inspiring, and my contribution to the discussion forms the basis of this blog post.
While the promise of innovation abounds, there’s an underlying challenge that frequently goes unspoken.
A Familiar Story
A health tech company. Two years of blood, sweat, and no doubt the odd tear, building a game-changing solution. They’ve already launched in the EU and done what they believe is all the right work. Their product, a triumph of innovation, is backed by world-class international standards.
They are eye-wateringly close to signing a truly transformative, landmark deal with the NHS. The pens are hovering. The champagne is chilling.
And then, in the final meeting, someone from the NHS procurement team leans forward and asks a simple, quiet question:
And in that moment of silence, all of those glossy international certifications suddenly feel irrelevant. The confidence in the room evaporates. And a deal that was moments from being signed… begins to die on the table.
This kind of last-minute failure isn’t just a setback; for many companies, it’s a fatal blow. And it’s a major reason behind a truly sobering statistic in our industry.
90%
That’s the estimated failure rate for digital health startups globally.
Many of those failures aren’t because the technology was inherently bad. They often happen because a company, with all the best intentions in the world, trips over a crucial, seemingly innocuous hurdle in the procurement process, compliance, just like in the story we imagined. They simply run out of money, or more crucially, time, trying to navigate a system they never truly understood.
But what if, just for a moment, we flipped this entirely on its head? What if that final hurdle wasn’t a hurdle at all? What if those very specific, UK compliance frameworks were, in fact, the precise recipe, not for failure, but for avoiding it, and for building a truly scalable business?
The UK’s Alphabet Soup
Let’s be brutally honest for a moment. When you first see the UK regulatory landscape… MHRA, NICE, DTAC, DSPT, CQC… it can feel like you’ve been handed a bowl of alphabet soup.
Now, let me tell you briefly about my dad when he’s in the kitchen. When it comes to the culinary arts, he operates with a certain… creative abandon. He’ll look at a recipe and he’ll gaze at it with a mixture of amusement and utter disregard. He’ll say, with a twinkle in his eye, “Never mind that we don’t have half the ingredients! I can swap the leeks for onions, the lemon for lime, that gouda for cheddar.”
Why? Because he instinctively understands something quite profound. He knows what can be swapped to get the same—or sometimes, dare I say it, an even better—result. He knows it’s the essential flavour, the underlying purpose, the intent that truly matters, rather than the exact label on the packet.
And that rather profound little insight – understanding the core function over the specific label – is ultimately the secret to navigating global regulation. It’s all about understanding the underlying principles.
The UK Helps Build Strong Foundations for Safety
(A Strategic Stepping Stone)
Think of it this way: The UK’s specific ‘ingredients’ – its DTACs, DCBs, and DSPTs – they might look different from those of the EU or the US. But the fundamental ‘flavours’ – patient safety, clinical efficacy, data security, robust governance – these are remarkably consistent everywhere you go.
The UK’s alphabet soup isn’t quite as alien as it looks. Many of its principles are aligned with global best practices, like ISO standards or core data protection principles. They are the same vital components you need to build a trustworthy, effective solution for any audience, in any market. And this is fantastic news for those eyeing up the UK market, because, from a compliance perspective, it means less frantic re-engineering and more strategic adaptation.
If you’re starting your health tech journey in the UK, getting it right for the NHS means you’re building on globally valued principles from day one. You are, effectively, getting a powerful head start on going international. You’re building a foundation that’s already prepared to speak many regulatory languages.
And if you’re coming into the UK from another market? It means your hard work already counts. You’ll likely just need a ‘tweak of the seasoning’, a slight adjustment to the recipe, not a whole new, terrifyingly expensive cookery course.
We’ve established that our pantry is, in fact, rather well-stocked with high-quality, international ingredients. The UK can therefore act as a brilliant ‘stepping stone’ for global expansion.
This is especially relevant in a fast-moving, sometimes terrifying, area like AI. The UK is forging its path that’s often described as more ‘agile’ or ‘principles-based’ than, say, the EU’s impressively comprehensive, but perhaps less nimble, AI Act.
But here’s the key: the core principles are the same. If you’re going out from the UK, you’re already well-prepared for other markets. And if you’re coming in, you’ll find very familiar theme.
A Pro-Tip for European Companies
If you’re coming from the EU, the UK public sector still looks very favourably on EU compliance. Indeed, many still look back with a certain, almost misty-eyed nostalgia on the comprehensive rigour of EU regulations. And the UK’s historical familiarity with them means that your EU compliance, far from being irrelevant, carries significant weight. Sadly, it won’t take the place of the UK-specific requirements, but it will complement them nicely and give the UK procurement and compliance teams even greater assurance that you’ve got the ‘right stuff’.
Ultimately, if you can build and prove a robust, ethical solution in the UK’s dynamic, perhaps slightly chaotic, but ultimately pragmatic environment, you create a compelling and adaptable proposition for any global market. This is what we at 8foldGovernance obsess over: we don’t believe in ripping up your existing work. That’s just wasteful. We believe in building upon your already solid foundations to position you for strategic growth. And if you haven’t yet built those foundations, we help you to put them in place to set you up for international success.
The Recipe for Success
So, what, then, is this ‘recipe for success’?
It’s about seeing the UK’s regulatory framework not as a hurdle. Not as a bowl of indigestible alphabet soup. But, rather, as a kitchen full of high-quality, versatile ingredients that, when used correctly, help you create safer, more effective, and ultimately, more successful solutions.
My advice to you, therefore, is rather simple, and comes in two parts:
- Firstly, embrace UK regulation. Don’t fear it. See it as your foundation.
- And secondly, use its internationally aligned rigour as your strategic stepping stone to the world.
Because in today’s UK market and the evolving NHS, with its unique challenges and opportunities, and indeed, on the global stage, a strong regulatory footing isn’t just about survival. It’s not just about ticking a box. It’s about going beyond that to truly scale and transform healthcare.
Check out our Case Studies to see examples of businesses that have done just this:
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