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Insights

Long read

Opportunities, openness and obstacles: NHS partnerships with the life sciences industry

Insights into member research on the interest and opportunities of the NHS partnering with the life sciences industry.

  • Cross-sector partnerships

Download the research $Opportunities Openness And Obstacles NHS Partnerships With Life Sciences 245.0 kB

Key points

  • The NHS is under intense operational pressures and struggling for the capacity and headspace to innovate.
  • Partnerships with life sciences industry offer a solution to help create headspace and facilitate innovation.
  • The NHS Confederation conducted new research with the aim of understanding the appetite for partnering with the life sciences industry, highlighting examples of previous partnership working and inspiring members to explore the potential opportunities available to them through partnering.
  • This research identified that members see value across a range of project types from pathway transformation to knowledge sharing. Awareness, however, of the different project types varies.
  • Case studies demonstrate partnering with the life sciences industry enables projects that may not be possible otherwise. In one example, Weston Park Cancer Centre evaluated non-face-to-face appointments during COVID-19, supported by Bristol Myers Squib; in another example Johnson & Johnson, supported Barts Health Orthopaedic Centre Partnership with a quality improvement initiative for total hip and knee arthroplasty. 
  • There is openness to partnering among NHS Confederation members and a perception of its value to the NHS as a whole. This value, however, is seen to a lesser extent at an organisational level; more can be done from industry to demonstrate local value to NHS stakeholders.
  • Raising awareness of the diversity of projects offered by the life sciences industry, in addition to showcasing the art of the possible through sharing case study examples and investing time into building relationships, could boost partnerships with industry. 
  • Barriers exist to partnership working particularly when it comes to the handling of patient information and data, and the motive of the partnership. Examples show these barriers can be overcome.