Winning work in the healthcare sector: navigating the NHS as a marketplace

The NHS is one of the largest employers in the world, with upwards of 1.6m members of staff operating across the UK, many of whom could theoretically become your next customer.

At a recent workshop delivered as part of The FWD Project – a business support programme tailored to health and wellbeing innovators in the South West of England – we discussed procurement in the public health sector, including how to sell into, and access the NHS as marketplace. When asked to describe their experience of selling into the NHS, our audience of founders responded simply: difficult, challenging and time consuming, amongst other likened sentiments.

This despondence corresponds with the general reputation the NHS has gained - for being an elusive, highly complex and often sceptical body to sell into. Tom Sheppard, Managing Director of HealthBid, described the NHS an “organisation that fundamentally does not want to be sold to.” Whether this be because of the cost of change, the added weight of healthcare procurement being of life-or-death importance, or the pressure put on NHS decision-makers to spend public money wisely, it seems the organisation is renowned for inflexible procurement policies, challenging processes, and often, no clear route in.  

We dive into the key questions you may need to know the answer to, before selling into this much-valued institution, based on findings delivered by Alex Leach, Health Innovation West of England. 

Who are you selling to?

The NHS is different everywhere. From hospitals and Integrated Care Systems, to mental health services and community providers, the NHS has a vastly complicated structure, with no two departments having the same procurement policies and structures.  

Below is a basic anatomy of the NHS commissioners, which you can use to focus your selling strategy.

1.       Primary Care - First point of contact GP, Dentist, Pharmacist

2.       Secondary Care - Elective & emergency care, Hospital and community

3.      Tertiary Care - Highly specialist treatment

4.       Social Care - Care Homes, Domiciliary care, Supported Living

5.       Direct to consumers, B2B, private healthcare, Occupational Health etc

Selling into the NHS becomes demystified when adopting a mindset shift. Rather than view the entire institution as a single homogeneous mass, or “one big fish,”, try viewing it as a multiplicity – a multifaceted, unique marketplace with many faces, or “millions of little fish.” Recognise the NHS as a healthcare delivery system that differs everywhere. 

Seeking to sell into the NHS as a whole has little meaning or value – you need to knuckle down on the specifics.

In this, the complexity of the structure may play to the founder’s advantage, as procurement and commercial opportunities can be found more readily, than in comparison to a single-body structure. Rather than simply “selling into the NHS”, you should locate which “small fish” best suits your service or product, and localise your selling strategy. 

Why do the NHS buy?

Alex Leach, Health Innovation West of England, delineates the NHS procurement motivation into six key drivers. Before approaching the NHS, ask yourself if your product or service addresses one or more of the following:

1.       Does it have a clinical benefit?

2.       Does it improve efficiency and workload issues?

3.       Is it safer?

4.       Is it cheaper?

5.       Does it add more value?

6.       Does it address a key priority?

These key motivators are an expression of the pain points for workers across the healthcare sector.

Avoiding assumptions

Try not to create sweeping statements about what the NHS may want, and instead, consult the source directly and find out what they need. Find practitioners who you can bounce your ideas against - find an in. 

This thought and testing process will help you ascertain where your product is going to have the most impact – locate its core value, and you’ll sure enough find your access point.

What we can assume is that there will not be a cut in the volume of people seeking medical assistance in the UK. In light of this, you can instead seek to create a product or service that serves the NHS and alleviates some of its self-identified pain points, whether that’s streamlining appointments, freeing up time spent on administrative tasks, or decreasing waitlists. By doing so, our product can deliver a solution that creates an NHS that it fitter, stronger and more resilient for the future of Britain. 

The key phrase here is: fall in love with the problem, not the solution.

Don’t let your love for your creation prevent you from pivoting into a space that addresses directly a key pain point. Assumption mapping and pivoting accordingly may be the key to creating an invaluable service, one which will keep the NHS coming back year on year.

If you think your company can do this, make sure you have clear, non-inflated evidence to back it up.

What to keep in mind before making contact:

1. Do your goods/services address a priority in the NHS? eg. Mental health, early diagnosis, dementia, cardiovascular, or further, help to reduce health inequalities, core20PLUS5. 

2. The NHS has a target of reaching Net Zero by 2050. You should be able to evidence the possibility of net zero reduction, even during early development. Read more about The Evergreen Sustainable Supplier Assessment  before making contact.

3. Does your product or service exist in accordance with the NHS Long-Term Plan (2019)? You can see the key goals below:

• ·       Improve care outside Hospitals
• ·        Reduce Pressure on Emergency services
• ·        Digitally enable care
• ·        Personalised care and shared responsibilities

4. Also, bare in mind the four purchasing rules NHS procurement must ensure: 

• Delivery of world-class patient care,
• Delivery of value to the taxpayer,
•  Support for health-based innovation
• Economic growth.

How to sell:

There are a few routes into the NHS as a marketplace. 

1. Direct sales to a decision maker within an NHS trust or primary care organisation

2. NHS Supply Chain

3. Collaborative purchasing agreements

4. National framework collaborations and contracts

 5. UK government tenders and contracts

If you are struggling to find a route into the NHS, there is help out there for innovators. We would recommend joining a support programme or scheme to assist with initial introductions and partnerships to help you get off the ground. For example, The FWD Project.

You can also locate your regional Health Innovation Network, which can provide you with tailored team support and signposting, help with fostering collaboration and partnerships, and overall support the spread of local innovators.

We are very pleased to provide Alex Leach’s slides as a resource to our platform members, created for our Winning Work in the Healthcare Sector event, which ran on the 22 October, 2024.

Please also find linked our Fireside chat with FWD company, Capri Healthcare, and our Entreprenure in Residence, Dr Becky Sage. Krishna Thakur, CEO, delves into his experience selling into the NHS, and shares his company timeline, as well as many tips and tricks.