UK COUNTRY FOCUS
UK LIFE SCIENCES
WHERE NEXT? T
By: ABHI (Association of British Healthcare Industries)
he challenges facing the Western world’s healthcare systems have been well documented in recent years — ageing populations, increase in chronic diseases and higher obesity rates. Until recently the UK Government increased spending at
a rate that was able to meet the increased demand generated by these challenges. The global economic crash of 2008 and the subsequent recession forced governments everywhere to look at their spending and find areas where savings can be made. In the UK the government has made a number of cuts and slowed down the rate of growth in healthcare spending. Commentators now predict that the NHS needs to save £20bn by 2015. This has led to a reduction in NHS activity, which in turn has heightened the need for UK SMEs to expand their horizons and look abroad for new markets to facilitate their growth. The UK government has acknowledged that SMEs have the potential to drive UK economic growth. Prime Minster David Cameron has said supporting SMEs to export could help the UK economy grow
008 ARAB HEALTH MAGAZINE UK SUPPLEMENT 2012
by £30bn. 99% of companies in the UK medical device sector are SMEs, the types of companies Mr Cameron is talking about when he highlights the potential for growth. If we look in more detail at the make-up of the sector we see that the there are over 3,000 companies employing 64,000 people with a combined turnover of £15bn. In terms of output, the UK medical device industry produces a broad and diverse range of products that support the NHS. These range from the highly innovative - implantable devices such as pacemakers and orthopaedic implants, right through to hospital consumables such as drapes and gowns. In 2011 the largest sectors in industry were single use technology,
wound care, orthopaedic devices, in vitro diagnostic technology and implantable devices. Other notable and innovative sectors include the medical imaging sector, drug delivery and infection control. New companies from industry have traditionally been spin-outs from universities based on relationships with local hospitals with growth
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