Early evidence links NHS-industry partnerships with improved prescribing practices and better health outcomes for patients.

Partnerships between the NHS and the pharmaceutical industry aim to support NHS priorities, enhance patient outcomes, optimise resource use, and reduce care disparities across the UK.

Our latest report with Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) uses published NHS and industry data to examine how partnerships can achieve shared goals of improving population health and enhancing healthcare experiences. While past successes have been demonstrated through individual case studies, this report aims to explore their clinical and performance impacts at a national, aggregate level within a select number of therapy areas.

Collaboration between the NHS and industry in the UK

In 2023, the ABPI reported £24.9 million in UK collaborative efforts. Although modest, scaling these partnerships could deliver a triple win: better patient outcomes, more efficient NHS resource use, and clear impact evidence for the industry. This report emphasises the added value of sustained partnerships, as evidenced by the fact that:

• Partnerships in secondary care take place in trusts where prescribing clinically and cost-effective medicines is closer in line with projected NICE recommendations for eligible patients, and this could deliver improved health outcomes for patients (see pages 18–28 of the report for further details).
• Partnerships in primary care take place where there is improved case-finding and disease management within their localities. (See page 30 of the report for further details).
• A growing body of evidence suggests that system level partnerships may help deliver improved health outcomes across the four nations of the UK (see pages 33–39 of the report for further details).

Evaluating NHS-industry partnerships

Acknowledging challenges in proving causality, we employed statistical methods to aggregate and evaluate the impact of NHS-industry partnerships across the UK (see page 12 of the report for further details).

While this does not explore specific improvements in morbidity or mortality, this analysis serves as a foundation for policymakers and health leaders to assess the applicability and scalability of these findings in their regions and local systems. With this new research, it is hoped that this paper can contribute to a new body of evidence to clearly outline the positive impact that NHS-industry partnerships can play in supporting the NHS to deliver the best possible care for patients across the UK and understand the relationship between partnership working and improved patient outcomes.