Category Archives: Health

What is FemTech and is it the future of women’s health?

The term ‘FemTech’ refers to women’s digital health services in areas including reproductive health, menopause and maternal care. It covers medical devices, software, therapeutic drugs and consumer apps, amongst other innovative technologies. The concept of FemTech emerged in the 2010s in conjunction with discussions on gender equality in healthcare provision and the development of virtual care delivery models. As interest in the sector has grown, a new market has emerged for investors. The government has also caught wind of the importance that digitalisation plays in the future of women’s healthcare and is looking to promote the development of FemTech and is keen to encourage further investment in the sector.

Following backlash from the dire findings of the Ockenden maternity services review, which identified significant failings in the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, the Johnson-led Conservative government published its ‘Women’s Health Strategy for England’ in August 2022. The then government launched a call for evidence to support the development of the strategy, which led to stakeholders submitting requests for government support for the FemTech industry through improved collaboration between the NHS and private sector. The subsequent strategy encouraged the use of digital health technologies to support women’s access to information, healthcare professionals and healthcare options, stating ‘we want to see greater use of digital technologies to empower women by de-mystifying and simplifying the process for companies to scale and launch their products in the UK.’ The then government said that it would support stakeholders by working with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to speed up access to innovative health technologies.

The strategy fell by the wayside following successive changes in Conservative Party leadership. However, the Labour government is building on the Conservative’s work on women’s health policy and announced in October 2025 that it was developing a renewed women’s health strategy which would seek to reduce healthcare inequalities and improve women’s access to healthcare professionals. The strategy is being developed to work alongside the 10-Year Health Plan, the government’s long term plan for reforming the NHS in England. It is likely that the renewed strategy, when it is eventually published, will focus on reducing waiting times for women’s healthcare provision and developing new women’s health technologies. The timeline for the renewed strategy is currently unknown; however, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is likely to encourage stakeholder engagement with the process throughout 2026.

This is an important time for stakeholders working and investing in FemTech. The government is keen to encourage and promote the development of new FemTech solutions to support its wider policy objectives, such as reducing workplace absenteeism and modernising the delivery of health services. The government is looking to innovate and improve women’s healthcare by engaging with the industry and recognises that increased levels of digitalisation is the way forward.

If you would like to discuss the government’s approach to FemTech further, please contact Mariella Turley at mariella@gkstrategy.com

Can the NHS deliver its new cancer plan?

Steve Brine is a former Health (and cancer) Minister, as well as a Strategic Advisor at GK Strategy. He also co-hosts the health and politics podcast, ‘Prevention is the New Cure’.

The government’s long-awaited National Cancer Plan for England arrives at a rare moment of agreement in health policy.

There is broad consensus across politics, the NHS, and industry that the current model – reactive, hospital-centric and stretched – is no longer sustainable. The focus now is prevention. Diagnose earlier, intervene sooner, and reduce the burden of disease before it overwhelms services.

We should first welcome the fact we have a plan. Attempts to water it down into a ‘major conditions strategy’ did not enjoy the support of the cancer community – or myself (while Chair of the Health Select Committee).

The evidence from around the world is clear; a focused and ambitious cancer plan drives performance and outcomes.

This plan recognises three fundamental truths: (i) the NHS cannot treat its way out of crisis, (ii) workforce shortages remain a major constraint, (iii) unless prevention is properly embedded, our cancer outcomes will continue to trail those of comparable nations.

The new cancer plan reflects much of this thinking and like the NHS 10 Year Health Plan before it, its ambition is not found wanting.

It sets out a new measurable goal that three-quarters of people diagnosed with cancer will survive at least five years or live well with the disease. It also promises to recover the cancer standards (maximum 62-weeks from diagnosis to treatment and the 28-day faster diagnosis metric) by the end of this parliament.

We’ve always known early diagnosis is cancer’s magic key, but if we’ve not built a system that can deliver such, it’s empty rhetoric and cancer patients don’t need that.

Given how measurable these targets are month-on-month – alongside the little-reported promise to provide every patient with a tailored support plan covering treatment, mental health and employment support – this is a very significant piece of work. To meet them, ministers promise faster diagnosis, expanded screening and more personalised treatment.

While some of the ‘big bets’ in the plan revolve around the wider use of cutting-edge technologies such as genomic testing, multi-cancer blood detection, AI-supported diagnostics and robotic surgery. There is also continued acknowledgement that around 40% of cancers are preventable; linked to smoking, obesity, alcohol consumption and environmental factors (even if doubts remain whether ministers have the political capital for further battles on the ‘nanny state’).

The National Cancer Plan is thoughtful and long overdue. But without a parallel focus on workforce protection, system transformation and sustained investment, it risks repeating a familiar pattern – bold promises undermined by fragile (and patchy) delivery.

As with many NHS strategies, including the 10 Year Health Plan itself, the challenge lies not in intent but in execution.

GK Look Ahead: Health and Social Care Policy

GK Strategy is pleased to share its ‘Look Ahead’ report which sets out some of the key health policy and regulatory trends to watch out for in 2026.

The report includes insights from GK Strategic Adviser Steve Brine on the government’s policy plans for health sub-sectors, such as dentistry and community pharmacy. Steve is a former Health Minister and was Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee.

The report can be accessed here: https://gkstrategy.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/GK-Look-Ahead-Health-and-Social-Care-Policy-January-2026.pdf

No more nasties: The government stamps its feet on baby food

The Department of Health and Social Care recently unveiled a new set of voluntary guidelines aiming to enhance the nutritional quality of commercial baby foods. These set new expectations for manufacturers, retailers, trade associations and non-governmental healthcare organisations to reduce the sugar and salt content of baby food and address misleading labelling within the next 18 months.

This initiative is the latest intervention as part of the government’s ‘Plan for Change’ and its broader 10-year plan for health. Building upon previous HFSS measures, such as the ban on junk food advertisements restrictions on fast-food outlets near schools, it indicates a growing appetite to intervene to improve the nation’s dietary health. Childhood obesity rates have doubled since the 1990s and obesity currently costs the NHS £11.4 billion per year; this is expected to increase as obese children reach adulthood. In order to shape healthy eating habits as much as possible, policymakers are turning their focus to the formative stages of children’s diets. The rationale is straightforward: if a child’s very first diet is contributing to lifelong health problems, then meaningful change must begin from the highchair.

The evidence underpinning these guidelines is clear. Researchers from the University of Leeds have found that baby foods from market leaders lack nutritional value and market their products in a misleading way. All too often, these products are sugary, watery, and breed consumer confusion with misleading slogans like ‘contains no nasties’. The guidance also advises manufacturers not to market products aimed at children under twelve months of age as ‘snacks’, with NHS guidance for parents contending that children this young do not need to eat snacks.

For manufacturers and retailers alike, the challenge will be to reformulate at pace. With the use of sweeteners prohibited for all foods aimed at children aged three and under, and a market that values both taste and convenience, they will need to find new ways to meet nutritional needs whilst maintaining trust with parental consumers.

Though billed as voluntary, these guidelines represent a clear direction of travel for the government. Public health campaigners have already indicated that these recommendations represent a further step rather than the finish line, and the government has left the door open to mandatory regulation should uptake be slow or inconsistent. For businesses, the choice is binary: act now and shape the policy conversation, or risk playing catch-up if it was to become law.

The government’s strong stance on baby food is a clear signal of intent to improve the nutritional content of the nation’s diet. It forms part of a wider push by the government to encourage healthy eating habits, improve transparency between businesses and consumers and reduce the long-term economic burden on the NHS. Whilst this will result in short-term costs to businesses, there remains a real strategic opportunity to engage in the policy conversation. Businesses that position themselves early as genuine leaders in providing nutritional baby food can win the trust of both policymakers and increasingly health-conscious parents.

 

 

 

 

 

The case for agri-tech in public health

The public health problem

Over one in four adults are obese, with an additional 36% classified as overweight in England. The prevalence of obesity has been steadily rising since 1993, with little evidence to suggest this trend is slowing. This is not solely an adult issue. The sharpest increases in obesity have recently been observed among children. Currently, 15% of children aged 2 to 15 are obese, and a further 27% are overweight. Projections from the Royal Society of Public Health suggest the situation will get worse. 39% of children are expected to be obese or overweight by 2029–30, rising to 41% by 2034–35.

The cost

The government estimates that obesity is costing the NHS £6.5bn a year and is the root cause of diabetes and heart disease and the second biggest preventable cause of cancer after tobacco smoking. Less conservative estimates that account for wider consequences suggest that poor diets cost the UK £126bn a year. There is a strong rationale for public health intervention and the Labour government is demonstrating a willingness to intervene. One of health secretary Wes Streeting’s big three healthcare shifts set out in this week’s NHS 10 Year Plan is a shift from treatment to prevention, and for public health this means intervention.

Government action

Trailing the publication of the NHS 10 Year Plan alongside an obesity strategy, the government has announced a new standard for food retailers to make the average shopping backet of goods healthier. Big food businesses will be required to report on healthy food sales and will be overseen by the Food Strategy Advisory Board. This builds on a government consultation launched in May on plans to tighten the sugar levy by reducing the minimum sugar content level from 5g to 4g and remove the exemption for milk-based drinks. This signals a clear appetite within government for more interventionist policies. Such an approach will undoubtedly incur backlash from anti-nanny state politicos and big industry actors. However, it also creates an opportunity for innovators.

Agri-tech innovators

A contested political environment driven by a firmer stance on obesity and healthy foods by ministers, creates a window for pragmatic, science-driven solutions. Crop biofortification to increase the nutritional profile of foods. Precision fermentation to produce low-fat dairy and bioactive compounds. Modified starches with a lower glycaemic index. The agri-tech sector is well-placed to engage and support the government to achieving public health outcomes. Junk food advertisement bans might grab the political headlines, but ministers will need solutions that measurably change health outcomes and improve the health of the nation.

What next

The NHS 10 Year Plan and the obesity strategy will feed into Defra’s set piece item due for publication later this year: the national food strategy. Broadening access to healthy foods dominates the political discourse around this food strategy. Improving public health and tackling obesity have shot up the political agenda and joining this up with food and farming policy is the key to successfully achieving these policy aims. Aligning with the government’s thinking and offering solutions to public health priorities will strengthen the agri-tech sector’s positions to shape policy and work alongside ministers and policymakers.