HealthTech Evidence Generation Workshop - Part 1
About this Event
Manchester | 2 November 2026 and 20 January 2027
£100 per person (includes both workshops, lunch and refreshments)
Now in its third running, after successful sessions with HealthTech entrepreneurs in March and at the Royal College of Emergency Medicine's Industry Symposium in June, this proven format returns as a two-part series from the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Emergency and Acute Care.
Day 1 shows you how patients, clinicians, payers and investors actually judge your technology, through real UK HealthTech successes and failures.
Day 2 is spent designing your own study, with health economists and biostatisticians at the table.
You leave with a reviewed study plan and a funding route that fits it.
What previous attendees said:
"Great programme, facilitation, and speakers; this was hugely valuable for innovators."
"Practical and actionable insights into planning evidence generation for HealthTech innovations."
"One of the most useful industry events we've attended."
"Excellent, the session spurred provocative thinking and queries."
"The HRC case study session was excellent. It explored a number of important issues, including how funding decisions are made, how limited healthcare resources should be allocated to maximise overall population health, the concept of opportunity cost, and the importance of considering both costs and patient benefits when making transparent, evidence-based decisions in the face of uncertainty."
HEALTHTECH EVIDENCE GENERATION: A TWO-PART WORKSHOP SERIES
Part 1: 2 November 2026 | Part 2: Wednesday 20 January 2027
Manchester | 9:30 – 16:30 both days | £100 for the series
Getting a health technology adopted by the NHS is rarely straightforward. Most companies know their product; far fewer can answer the question that decides their future: what evidence do I actually need, and how do I generate it affordably?
This two-part series takes you from understanding your unmet need to a critiqued plan for your own study. The format has been piloted with HealthTech SMEs and refined at the RCEM Industry Symposium; this third running extends it into two days so the second can be spent entirely on your own technology. It is taught by health economists, biostatisticians and evidence specialists who advise on HealthTech funding applications, using real UK HealthTech case studies, successes and failures.
Day 1 – Building your evidence case (Monday 2 November)
How the people who decide your technology's future actually think.
- Unmet need through four lenses: what patients, clinicians, NHS payers and investors each need to see, and how to triangulate across them quickly and cheaply
- Three questions before you write a grant: what is already known, what study you need at your stage, and how to show the NHS it is worth paying for
- Real case studies: anonymised UK HealthTech companies. Assess them with the day's frameworks, predict who succeeded, then find out what really happened and why
You will leave Day 1 able to state the case for your technology in the language of each audience that matters.
Between the sessions
A short series of recorded lectures on study design and methods, available to watch in your own time, plus a structured one-page exercise on your own technology. This does the groundwork so Day 2 can go deep.
Day 2 – Designing your own study (Wednesday 20 January)
A hands-on deeper dive, applied to your technology throughout.
- From evidence gap to study question: pin down the claim your next study has to support
- Study design clinic: choose and defend a design that fits your stage, with biostatistics and health economics input on endpoints, comparators and sample size
- Critical review: present your study sketch for structured critique from the panel and your peers
- Funding routes: match your study to NIHR i4i, Innovate UK, SBRI and partnership routes
You will leave Day 2 with a reviewed study plan and a clear view of the funding route that fits it.
Who should attend
Industry innovators (SMEs and start-ups) developing health technologies for the UK market, particularly teams early in their NHS evidence journey. No prior research experience needed for Day 1; Day 2 works on your own technology, so come with a live product or prototype.
Booking
The two days are designed as one programme and are sold as a single £100 ticket. Please only book if you can attend both dates. Places are limited to keep the second day genuinely hands-on.
How to sign up:
If you would like to attend, please register via the Eventbrite link.
The workshop will cost £100.00 per attendee.
If you have any questions, please email [email protected].
Agenda
🕑: 09:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Refreshments
Info: Agenda and timings are still subject to change.
🕑: 10:00 AM - 12:45 PM
Session 1: Understanding the Problem
Host: Dr Alex Thompson
Info: We start where every successful technology starts: the problem. Working through short talks and discussion, we look at how patients, clinicians, NHS payers and investors each define unmet need, why an innovation has to speak to all of them, and how to triangulate a convincing case quickly and cheaply from evidence that already exists. You will apply each perspective to your own technology as we go.
The morning then turns to the three questions every company faces before writing a grant, building an investor deck or planning a study: what is already known, what study you actually need at your stage, and how you show the NHS that solving your problem is worth paying for. No economic modelling is assumed; the aim is a defensible value argument, not a spreadsheet.
🕑: 12:45 PM - 01:30 PM
Lunch
🕑: 01:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Session 2: Real‑World Case Studies
Host: Dr Alex Thompson
Info: The afternoon puts the morning's frameworks under pressure. We work through real UK HealthTech companies, presented anonymously: the technology, the claimed unmet need, the evidence they gathered and the funding they raised, but not the outcome. In groups, you assess each one and predict what happened. Then we reveal the outcomes and dig into why the results defy expectations, and what that means for your own evidence strategy.
We close by setting up Day 2: what to prepare, and the short recorded lectures on study design and methods you will watch between the sessions.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 100.00
