HealthTech Hour

NHS data, global healthcare systems, cancer referrals, the single patient record, A&E pressures - Dr Penny Dash, Chair of NHS England, on what the UK gets right, what it gets wrong, and what it could learn from the rest of the world.
Is there a healthcare system better than the NHS? Steve Roest sits down with Penny Dash — former hospital doctor, ex-McKinsey European healthcare lead, and now Chair of NHS England - for one of the most wide-ranging conversations the show has had. After more than four decades in the system, she remains a rare voice of optimism: a realist who never sugarcoats, but always sees the potential for things to be better.
In this episode:
Why there's no clear winner among global healthcare systems, and what the UK still leads on
Why Dr Dash believes India could lead the world in healthcare
How Germany prices surgery like a market to manage waiting lists
Why your GP and hospital records still don't connect
The single patient record debate, and thirty years of the same resistance
Why "don't come to A&E" is the wrong message
Why most urgent cancer referrals now find nothing
0:00 Is there a better system than the NHS? 0:51 Intro 2:26 Staying optimistic after 45 years in healthcare 5:44 Which countries do healthcare best 9:19 Why India could lead the world in healthcare 11:50 How Germany prices surgery like a market 19:12 Innovation vs adoption: the 17-year lag 27:41 The single patient record debate 42:22 Why your GP and hospital records don't connect 47:48 "Telling people not to come to A&E is our failure" 56:31 Why 9 in 10 cancer referrals find nothing
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Health data, the single patient record, Palantir, the Federated Data Platform, UK Biobank, synthetic data — Matthew Whitty, former Director of Innovation at NHS England, on who really owns your health data and why the NHS still can't join it up.
Matt's career has spanned hospital pharmacy, commissioning, consultancy and national policy, giving him a rare view from the intersection of government, industry, academia and patient care. In this episode, Steve gets into why the data debate is really about trust, and what it'll take to unlock the NHS's most valuable asset safely.
We discuss:
Why the "privatisation" debate is really about trust and motivation, not sell-offs
Who actually owns your health data, and why no single patient record exists
The Federated Data Platform and Palantir controversy, explained without the noise
How de-identified data gets re-identified, and what really happened with UK Biobank
Why synthetic data and "sandbox" environments could make Britain the number one place to build healthtech
Why the NHS may compare far better to other systems than the headlines suggest
The NHS holds one of the largest single-system health datasets in the world.
The question isn't whether to use it, but how to do it in a way patients actually trust.
0:00 Who owns your health data? 0:55 Intro 4:00 From hospital pharmacist to NHS England innovation lead 8:45 The public vs private NHS debate 13:19 Who owns your data & the UK Biobank breach 17:24 The Federated Data Platform & Palantir, explained 33:30 Why healthtech gets support no other industry does 43:18 Synthetic data & sandboxes 48:00 Abolishing NHS England & reasons for optimism
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NHS waiting lists, funding, staffing, maternity scandals, Alzheimer's drugs, social care — Paul Gallagher, a 20-year veteran of UK health journalism, on whether the NHS is actually broken or just badly managed.
In this episode of Health Tech Hour, Steve Roest speaks with veteran health journalist Paul Gallagher about the pressures facing the NHS, including waiting-list backlogs, workforce shortages, delayed hospital discharges, social-care gaps and the political sensitivity surrounding reform.
Paul draws on two decades of healthcare reporting to examine why the NHS repeatedly falls into short-term crisis management, how public expectations compare with the amount the UK is willing to spend, and why discussions about restructuring are so often reduced to fears of privatisation.
The conversation also explores the role technology can play in moving care from hospitals into communities, improving prevention and making services easier to access. Steve shares how a single SMS offering an at-home health check generated 80% uptake among previously unresponsive patients, illustrating how service design, not patient apathy, can determine engagement.
They discuss:
Why social-care shortages keep medically fit patients in hospital
How fragmented care and workforce vacancies create system-wide delays
Whether technology can meaningfully reduce pressure on NHS staff
Why convenience matters for preventative-health participation
The difference between private delivery and charging patients
Why NHS reform debates often default to comparisons with the US
What the UK could learn from healthcare systems in Europe and Japan
Whether higher taxation could support better public services
How politics and the media reinforce short-term decision-making
0:00 Is the NHS broken? 0:51 Intro 3:27 The state of the NHS: funding, waiting lists & the bed crisis 9:09 Staffing shortages & the ethics of overseas recruitment 13:03 Why people don't engage with health checks, and how to fix that 18:16 Privatisation, reform & what we're not allowed to debate 26:20 Real stories from the frontline & why change never sticks 32:40 Maternity scandals & accountability failures 38:23 Alzheimer's: causes, breakthroughs & the future of diagnosis
Paul Gallagher is a health journalist with more than 20 years of experience, including a decade as health correspondent at the i Paper and work for publications including The Times, The Telegraph and The Mirror. He is also contributing to an Alzheimer’s Disease International report focused on clinical trials.
Health Tech Hour features the founders, clinicians, journalists and system leaders changing healthcare in the UK and beyond.
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NHS outpatients, agentic AI, the NHS App, EPRs and digitisation - Tom Whicher, CEO of DrDoctor, on why outpatient care as we know it shouldn't exist, and how AI could fix it.
DrDoctor has powered nearly 200 million NHS appointments for 37 million patients and delivered over £150 million in NHS savings.
In this episode of HealthTech Hour, Tom shares how a naval architecture degree and a chance consultancy project peeling onions for Domino's Pizza led him to co-found DrDoctor in 2012 - and why 13 years later, he believes outpatient care as we know it shouldn't exist.
We explore:
why hospital appointments haven't fundamentally changed since the 1600s, how DrDoctor has powered nearly 200 million NHS appointments for 37 million patients, why 40% of outpatient activity could be delivered at home, how agentic AI is now transforming how patients interact with the NHS, why EPRs alone don't deliver the savings the NHS was promised, the shift from digitisation to optimisation in NHS strategy, why every CEO of a software business needs to embrace AI, the paradox of the most-wanted job being a doctor while most doctors want to leave, how UK health tech founders can build lasting relationships with the NHS
Tom also explains how DrDoctor is becoming the agentic operating system for the NHS — integrating deeply with EPRs, powering the NHS App, and building the AI tools that free up clinicians to focus on patient care.
Whether you're a healthcare professional, founder, investor, policymaker, or simply interested in the future of healthcare, this conversation offers a rare inside view of what really needs to change to make the NHS fit for the future.
00:00 The Future of Healthcare 02:15 From naval architecture to health tech 06:30 The orange form and box of roses story 12:00 Why outpatients shouldn't exist in 2026 16:30 Being thrown out of a CIO's office in 2012 20:00 How DrDoctor powers the NHS App 25:00 The agentic AI tool that changes hospital appointments 29:00 Why EPRs don't save the NHS money 37:30 Why success can make you the enemy in UK health tech 41:00 What every CEO should do about agentic AI 47:30 Learning from the king of milk
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The NHS GP shortage, primary care workforce, the 10-Year Health Plan — Julian Titz, CEO of Asterix Health, on solving the 50,000-GP shortfall by embedding UK-registered doctors working from abroad into NHS surgeries.
Asterix Health now serves practices with 250,000 patients, has onboarded 150+ doctors, and was the first approved provider under the new NHS rules endorsed by the 10-Year Health Plan.
In this episode of HealthTech Hour, Julian shares how a personal diagnosis of a bicuspid aortic valve sparked his journey into healthcare and why he believes preventative care should be far more accessible.
We explore:
why the NHS workforce crisis continues to worsen, why thousands of GPs are leaving the profession, how remote UK-qualified doctors can support primary care, the future of global healthcare workforces, why AI won't replace doctors anytime soon, the challenges of building healthtech companies in the UK, the role of prevention in reducing long-term healthcare costs, what the NHS 10-Year Plan means for healthcare innovation
Julian also explains how Asterix Health is helping GP practices manage complex clinical workloads, reduce administrative burden, and improve patient care by reconnecting experienced doctors with the healthcare system.
Whether you're a healthcare professional, founder, investor, policymaker, or simply interested in the future of healthcare, this conversation offers a fascinating look at one of the biggest challenges facing health systems today.
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00:00 The Future of Healthcare 03:36 Julian's heart valve diagnosis and the move into healthcare 07:00 Why workforce is the biggest problem in healthcare 09:31 The 50,000 GP shortage and why doctors are leaving 12:55 The NHS 10-Year Plan endorsement 24:50 Building incentives that align with how the NHS actually works 36:00 Where the UK tech ecosystem wins