Jo Bekis
CEO, UK Healthcare and Life Sciences Innovation (UKHLSI)In 2026, UKHLSI became the latest member of the Chamber Group: a membership organisation for companies that want innovation to be implemented more swiftly in the UK health system. UKHLSI is a mission-led trade association ready to partner with government and clinicians to deliver the innovation that patients expect.
The UK has never had a shortage of healthcare innovation. We are home to world-leading universities, pioneering life sciences companies, groundbreaking research institutions, and an NHS that remains one of the most admired healthcare systems in the world. Yet despite all these strengths, I have repeatedly seen the same problem: too many proven innovations failing to reach patients at scale. That is why UKHLSI was founded.
Our mission is simple: to help bridge the gap between innovation and adoption, ensuring that great ideas become real-world solutions that improve patient outcomes and strengthen our healthcare system. Over the years, I have worked closely with organisations across healthcare, policy, investment, and innovation. I have met countless innovators who have developed technologies, services, and solutions capable of transforming care delivery. However, many faced the same barriers: complex procurement processes, fragmented decision-making structures, inconsistent adoption pathways, and difficulties engaging with key NHS stakeholders.
What became clear was that the UK does not have an innovation problem. It has an adoption problem. While enormous resources are invested in research, development, and pilot programmes, far fewer mechanisms exist to support widespread implementation across the healthcare system. Too often, successful projects remain localised, innovative SMEs struggle to gain traction, and patients miss out on technologies that could improve care and outcomes. UKHLSI was established to address this challenge directly. We exist to connect innovators with healthcare leaders, policymakers, and decision-makers. Our goal is to create a stronger ecosystem where evidence-based innovation can move beyond pilot phases and become part of everyday healthcare delivery.
My Journey
My professional journey has always been driven by a passion for improving systems and creating meaningful impact. Throughout my 30-year career, I have worked at the intersection of business growth support, innovation, healthcare, public policy, stakeholder engagement, workforce development, and organisational development. These experiences provided me with a unique perspective on both the opportunities and challenges facing healthcare innovation in the UK.
I have had the privilege of engaging with leaders from across the NHS, industry, government, and the wider health sector. Through those conversations, a common theme consistently emerged: everyone recognised the need for innovation, but many struggled with the practical realities of adopting and scaling new solutions. Innovative companies often spoke one language, healthcare providers another, and policymakers a third. The result was a disconnect that slowed progress and reduced opportunities for collaboration. My ability to break down communication barriers and articulate a clear vision to support all parties is a core strength of mine.
The inspiration for UKHLSI came from recognising that a dedicated organisation could help bring these groups together. After the success of Curia, our Policy do-tank, and digital4health UK, we knew we could deliver better together. By creating structured engagement between industry, healthcare leaders, and policymakers, we can help remove barriers and accelerate the adoption of innovations that are already proving their value.
Founding UKHLSI has been both exciting and challenging; leading two national and international businesses gives me real-world understanding from an SME’s viewpoint of the day-to-day tasks at hand. Building a new organisation requires vision, resilience, and a willingness to challenge the status quo. However, every conversation with innovators, clinicians, and patients reinforces why this work matters. The opportunity to help improve healthcare outcomes for millions of people makes the journey worthwhile.
What I Hope to Achieve and How
My long-term ambition for UKHLSI is to help create a healthcare innovation ecosystem where adoption is viewed as strategically important as invention itself.
We want to see a healthcare system where innovative technologies can be assessed efficiently, where evidence is shared more effectively, and where successful solutions can be scaled across regions without unnecessary duplication or delay. We also want to create stronger connections between those developing solutions and those responsible for delivering care. And we need our knowledge highways across our global ecosystem to be offered to our members to participate, connect and learn to ensure scale-up growth can truly happen.
To achieve this, UKHLSI focuses on four key areas
- Connecting Innovation With the NHS: Many innovators struggle to understand how to engage effectively with the NHS. We help create opportunities for dialogue between companies and healthcare leaders, ensuring that solutions are aligned with real clinical and operational challenges.
- Engaging Policymakers: Healthcare innovation does not happen in isolation. Regulation, funding, procurement, and policy all play critical roles in determining whether innovation succeeds or fails. UKHLSI works to facilitate meaningful engagement with policymakers so that the voices of innovators and healthcare providers can inform future decision-making.
- Building Collaborative Networks: Innovation adoption requires collaboration. Through events, roundtables, reports, and stakeholder engagement, we aim to create a national and global network where organisations can share insights, build partnerships and learn from one another. Our network includes academia, NHS, innovation, investors, and policymakers.
- Connecting Innovation to Investment Opportunity: One of the areas we are keen to continue to develop is connecting innovation to investment opportunity. The landscape is currently changing, with the UK Government in conversations with the British Business Bank and Pension Giants to unlock millions for innovation. Through events, we also connect our members to our grant and investment partners, providing that vehicle to open doors to investment companies where those doors would otherwise typically remain closed.
What Sort of Companies Should Join?
UKHLSI is designed for organisations that are serious about making a positive contribution to healthcare and life sciences; they are typically post-clinical trials and ready to commercialise and/or established organisations working with the NHS but wishing to scale across the UK and beyond.
This includes
- Health technology companies developing digital solutions
- Artificial intelligence and data analytics providers
- Medical device manufacturers
- Diagnostic and screening innovators
- Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies
- Digital health platforms
- Social care innovators
- Consultancy and advisory firms supporting healthcare transformation
- Research organisations and academic institutions
- SMEs bringing disruptive technologies to market
Company size is not the deciding factor. What matters is ambition, evidence, and a genuine commitment to improving patient care.
We are especially keen to support organisations that already have proven solutions but need help navigating adoption pathways. Many SMEs possess exceptional technologies but lack access to the networks, decision-makers, and policy conversations needed to scale effectively. UKHLSI aims to help fill that gap.
Membership is also valuable for larger organisations seeking strategic insight, partnership opportunities, and a deeper understanding of emerging healthcare priorities, with opportunities to chair working groups or fund mandates for 12 months that will be recommended to the UK Government.
How MPs can Help
Members of Parliament have an important role to play in supporting healthcare innovation. First, MPs can champion innovation adoption within policy discussions. While new discoveries are important, greater attention must be given to ensuring proven solutions reach patients more quickly and consistently. Second, MPs can facilitate dialogue between innovators, healthcare providers, and government departments. Many barriers to adoption are systemic and require collaboration across multiple stakeholders. Parliament can serve as an important convening force for these discussions.
Third, MPs can support policies that promote long-term investment in healthcare infrastructure, digital transformation, and workforce development. Innovation cannot be successfully implemented without the foundations needed to support it. Fourth, MPs can engage directly with organisations such as UKHLSI to better understand the challenges that innovators face and identify opportunities for policy improvement. Greater engagement between Parliament and the healthcare innovation community will ultimately benefit patients, healthcare professionals, and the wider economy.
the Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) Digital Health Conference.
Looking Ahead
The future of UK healthcare depends not only on our ability to connect new and existing innovation solutions but also on our ability to support the adoption of them effectively. The talent, expertise, and innovation already exist across the UK. Our challenge is creating the conditions that allow those innovations to flourish.
That is why UKHLSI was founded. We are building a platform that brings together innovators, healthcare leaders, and policymakers with a shared purpose: improving outcomes for patients while strengthening the sustainability of the healthcare system.
If we can close the gap between innovation and adoption, the benefits will extend far beyond individual organisations. We will create a stronger NHS, a more competitive life sciences sector, and, most importantly, better health outcomes for people across the United Kingdom. UKHLSI exists to help make that vision a reality.