A key theme during our Health and Social Care Outlook for 2023 conference was the balance between an annual fee review and the pressures facing the sector. Looking at future opportunities, all panellists’ agreed that demand for services will continue to be underpinned by demographics. The challenge is to deliver high-quality, cost-effective services within funding constraints. So where is the potential for growth?

With the key driver being the best provision of care, there are opportunities ahead, involving technology, innovation and consolidation.

Growth hotspots: key issues for the future of health and social care

Our panellists identified several major themes in health and social care development.

• Chronic condition management. It is inevitable that adult patients living longer, with challenging conditions, will require more specialist care. Preparation and further convergence of health and social care will be essential.
• Proactivity in personal health As pressures increase across the health system, there is going to be an increase in need for care options and services such as diagnostic facilities. Employees have a greater focus on health benefits, driving greater demand.
• Mental health Mental health is increasingly a key health issue. Rates among children have risen especially quickly, and access to specialist help can be a challenge. Services that assist in identifying and swiftly treating mental health issues at an early stage are increasingly important.
• Specialist Care There is an ongoing and increasing need for specialist high acuity care. Finding and retaining quality staff alongside wider challenges around cost inflation remain key challenges in this market.
• Innovative recruitment & retainment A focus on overseas recruitment will help alleviate short-term pressure in the non-specialist sector, while retention factors might include support for workers during the cost-of-living crisis or looking for alternatives to PPE.

HealthTech: Short-Term Opportunities

The panel discussed the challenges in identifying which platforms or approaches will dominate, and the necessity for significant investment to see a return.

There were two clear themes:

• Technology in healthcare Using technology to better manage care and provide visibility of healthcare needs across a patient population can drive material benefits to both care outcomes and the system’s ability to meet demand.
• Back-office development Whilst internal investment into efficient and operational improvements in back-office systems will be an immediate cost, it will deliver medium- and longer-term benefits, in terms of efficiencies, data and quality.

Consolidation Opportunities

Consolidation was agreed to effect broader efficiencies across portfolios and support investment. Staffing challenges, in particular, can be addressed more easily where there is a large site, or multiple sites located in close proximity – a point that the panellists identified as a difference between the specialist-care sector and elderly care at present.

Culture and quality need to be consistent and maintained across portfolios as they grow, with an even greater focus on supporting the management teams delivering high quality care. As our private equity investor panellist indicated, we can expect broader consolidation across Europe, especially in specialist areas such as diagnostic and fertility services.

We will explore these themes further at our future conferences. For more articles, please see the related links.