Money for technology catalyst forms part of a broader package to support development of innovations in medical care
The Government has put up £35 million for a Digital Health Technology Catalyst aimed at supporting work by innovators in the field.
It has announced the move as part of a broader funding package, totalling £86 million, to back UK firms in developing medical breakthroughs.
The Department of Health (DoH) will support SMEs in developing new technologies in the NHS. This could include innovations such as digital technologies to help patients manage their conditions from home, or to develop new medicines.
It said the money for the technology catalyst will provide match funding for the development of digital tech for use by patients and the NHS.
It will be supported by a £6 million Pathway Transformation Fund to help NHS organisations integrate new tech into everyday practices through training staff and other measures.
Evidence support
The rest of the money includes £39 million for the academic health science networks to assess the benefits of new technologies and support NHS take-up, and up to £6 million over the next three years to help SMEs develop medicines and devices. The money will help them collect the evidence they need by testing in the real world.
Ben Moody, head of health and social care at IT industry association techUK, said: “The Digital Health Technology Catalyst will be a great boost for innovators in the sector.
“The announcement also recognises that the resources needed to generate evidence to show that a technology is worth reimbursing can be prohibitively difficult for SMEs - so the fund to support evidence generation for innovative devices is particularly welcome.”
Image: Richmond House, DoH headquarters, from GOV.UK, Open Government Licence v3.0
