We are in a period of unprecedented pressure and change in healthcare. The pace of this change is faster than anything we have seen before. In these conditions you still need to make the right decisions for patient safety and for your business. Even before Covid-19 emerged there was a rapid expansion of digital products coming onto the healthcare market. These innovative solutions have the potential to, and are already having a significant impact on delivery of patient care and clinical outcomes. The current situation has rapidly increased the pace of this innovation and the adoption of these services, for example primary care has changed to a greater than 50% remote delivery model in a matter of days.

Navigating this complex sector requires an appropriate level of oversight and compliance with all the regulatory requirements. The regulations are essential to ensure new technologies meet the required standards, ensuring that products will be used appropriately to protect patient safety, to aid clinicians in delivering care, and to maintain data protection. However, the regulatory landscape is complex and unfortunately does not always keep up with the pace of change, adding to the challenge. The need for a code of conduct for data driven health and care technology is well accepted in the sector, and prior to the current pandemic this code of conduct was being developed through engagement with public, key-stakeholders and using governing principles such as contained within the NHS constitution. It is highly likely that insight from progress made getting products and services onto the market and adopted by users quickly will provide an excellent opportunity to feed into this process. In addition to regulatory requirements launching or scaling a new product needs to be done ethically, legally, transparently and with a strong evidence base. This all needs to be done at pace.

From a business perspective the end point of getting products and services to market is also to achieve growth that ensures commercial success of your business. In these times of rapid change there may not be the time to scale your business or raise capital by normal routes; every stage of the business model needs to be streamlined. This is unlikely to be the right time to spend time hiring a clinical lead to ensure your strategy fits the market and can meet the necessary regulations.