Medical Devices

Medical devices play a key role in modern health and social care. With a £14.5bn medical device market in the UK today, projected to grow to £21bn by 2027, they represent approximately 89% of total health technology spend in the UK. The MHRA has over 1 million different types of medical devices registered with them.

The medical device regulations in the UK are undergoing a major redevelopment, with consultation recently completed on the proposed new device regulations. In October 2022, the MHRA published the “Software and AI as a Medical Device Change Programme Roadmap” to support the new regulatory framework.

Healthcare provision is a significant contributor to the UK’s carbon footprint. In 2019, this was estimated to be almost 5% of all UK carbon emissions. Medical devices contribute through discarded packaging, single use plastics and incineration of clinical waste. NHS England has updated best practice to support the NHS achieve their target of net-zero by 2045. The HRC-DDR will consider this when prioritising HealthTech to support.