Medical Consulting Group

At MCG, we help the best healthcare companies connect with the best clinicians.

We firmly believe in three things:

- Healthcare innovation only works when clinicians are involved early — and deeply.
- Startups and clinicians must collaborate equitably — with mutual respect.
- All healthcare professionals have a voice — not just doctors.

We pride ourselves in our hands on, personal approach for each of our clients because we understand that clinical collaboration requires deep attention to detail.

We aim to empower founders and companies with clinical insights to ultimately build better tools for healthcare.

Now more than ever, healthcare needs innovation. 

Let's get to work, together.

Co-Founder

As partner in the Medical Consulting Group, my role is to help in the growth of the organisation - with a focus on overlooking key partnerships and building our clinical/healthtech network.

I leverage the experience, knowledge and network built up from Adopt-A-Doc to deliver mutually beneficial solutions for HealthTech companies in need of clinical collaboration.

Our belief is in putting people first. Be it innovators or clinicians, we believe that making the right connections is a personal endeavour and therefore has to be approached as such. 

If you are a healthcare innovator looking for clinical collaboration, do reach out and say hi!

Partner

The FIX 

The Glastonbury of HealthTech is coming to Oxfordshire! Join us at THE FIX!

💊 The festival takes place on September 18, 2025, an hour away from London and is led by the founding Editor-in-chief of WIRED UK, David Rowan. Forget dull panels, THE FIX is an outdoor festival with music, tents, and creative content.

🔥 Women’s Health, Longevity, Psychedelics, AI, mental health and a host of other hot topics will be covered at the festival. You can expect counter-intuitive formats, fresh ideas and hangouts with industry rockstars!

🚀 The venue is Harwell Science Campus, a big science park, home to the UK Space Agency, National Quantum Computing Centre, as well as 7,500+ scientists, engineers and innovators.

Curator of Clinical Collaboration

HLTH Inc.

At HLTH Europe 2025, we are catalysing growth. 

By cultivating innovation and interconnectivity and by breaking down barriers, we are nurturing a stronger, more inclusive healthcare system. 

As an ambassador, I will be working with the HLTH team to communicate the core values of the conference, as well as organise some high value content for the HealthTech ecosystem!

Ambassador

ZINC

Zinc backs exceptional talent to build new commercial solutions that solve the most pressing societal issues. As a Zinc Visiting Fellow, I will support the cohort of 50 talented Founders to build commercial, scalable businesses that tackle one of the toughest problems society faces today - environmental threats to our health.

Visiting Fellow

VentureBlick

As part of my continuing commitment to help further HealthTech innovation in the global healthcare setting, I have joined the global medical advisory network of Venture Blick.

Utilising the knowledge and experience working in the NHS as a clinician as well as the Founder of the Adopt-A-Doc Initiative, I help VentureBlick with assessing HealthTech Startups for possible investment + provide consulting services to early stage HealthTech startups. 

No man is an island. Together we can do more.

Medical Advisor

The Beatson Oncology Centre

Clinical Oncology Specialist

NHS Scotland

A budding cancer doctor currently engaging with the development of artificial intelligence tools focused on empowering phyisicans with clinical decision making.

Doctor of Medicine

Adopt-A-Doc

Adopt-A-Doc is a social enterprise that connects HealthTech Companies and Healthcare Professionals to bridge the gap between solution developers and their end users. We advocate the practice of Medicollaboration which is the act of collaborating with healthcare professionals to build relevant and actually useful tools for the betterment of Healthcare. 

Tech is hard, HealthTech is harder still. If you are a founder/company that is seeking Medicollaboration, don't be shy and Adopt-A-Doc!

Founder

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

Honorary research fellowship with the Christie Cancer Hospital to deliver a multi-phased, multifaceted quality improvement initiative to improve outcomes for cancer patient with stage 2/3 acute kidney injury. The QI project went on to be shortlisted as finalist by the NQICAN QI competition.

Honorary Research Fellow

Malaysian Medics International

Co-founder of the Malaysian Branch of the international medical student organization - Malaysian Medics International (MMI), a student led organization that focuses on connecting, educating and cultivating Malaysian medical students around the world.

NHS Cancer Doctor. I connect HealthTech Companies with Healthcare Professionals.

Over 80% of HealthTech Innovations fail.

One of the biggest reasons is the lack of clinical adoption.

Where healthcare professionals simply fail to appreciate the benefit of a new solution.

Why does this happen?

Many healthcare innovators build new tech solutions without truly understanding healthcare and its complex problem in its entirety.

They build tools that are directionally correct, but stumbles upon the details that matter in the clinical setting.

There is not enough collaboration between those who build new tools, and those who use them.

We started the Medical Consulting Group to bridge this gap. 

Over the past few years, we have:

- Helped 125 HealthTech Startups
- Onboarded >100 clinicians in various clinical consulting work.
- Grew a robust network of >1500 clinicians.

We believe in the power of collaboration to build the next generation of healthcare tools.

Tools that can and will make a big difference to our patients and clinicians.

If you are a healthtech innovator looking for clinical collaboration,

Visit us at medicalconsultinggroup.co.uk!

Today we are learning an important healthtech acronym: TRL (Technology Readiness Level).

You hear this term used quite frequently in conferences, whitepapers and official grant applications.

🤔 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧?

In simple terms, TRLs describe how mature a technology is:

🥚 from an early-stage concept (TRL 1–3),
🐣 to preclinical testing (TRL 4–6),
🐥 to clinical evaluation and adoption in the NHS (TRL 7–9).

Each step has its own expectations for evidence, regulation, and validation.

And each step determines what kind of partnership, grant, or study you’re actually ready for.

_____________________________

Understanding your TRL means you can:

✅ Align development with NHS evidence and safety standards
✅ Apply for the right grants at the right time
✅ Enter NHS procurement pathways with confidence

In my usual fashion, here is an infographic with some examples to help you understand the concept better! 

I hope this helps and do share if you find this useful!

P.S. What other acronyms are must knows in the NHS?

Clive Flashman 💙| Aahuti Rai | Dr Jihad Malasi | Katherine Church | Liz Ashall-Payne | Leo Tyson |

Dr. Zhong Wei Khor

NHS Cancer Doctor. We connect HealthTech Companies with Healthcare Professionals.

My amazing grandmother passed away this weekend.

Peacefully in her sleep, surrounded by the family she loved.


By any accounts, she was an amazing woman.


She endured through war and oppression at a young age,

She uplifted her family out of poverty through her ingenuity,

She suffered through the loss of a daughter at a young age,


But despite it all, she left behind a legacy of love and warmth.


She embodied the definition of duty and putting family first. 

My father recounted fondly how she was always first to rise, last to sleep.

From sunrise to sunset, she was always busy getting the house in order.


She reared chickens, tended to a large vegetable garden, and made sure her family were always warm and fed. 

Though they had little, they had everything.


She also played a huge role in the lives of her grandchildren, 

Looking after my mother and her three children growing up. 

We were her pride and joy - she would keep meticulous records of all of our achievements and photos in her trusty iPad. 


And for me, both her and my grandfather put together a significant sum of money to send me to the UK to study medicine.

Suffice to say, I wouldn’t be where I am without her. 


As we lay her to rest, a part of our hearts left with her. 

But the memory of her love and unending care will always remain. 


Rest in peace, my dear grandmother.

Until we meet again.

I am proud to announce that I am joining GG Ventures as an advisor!

As a clinician and a male ally, I am incredibly excited to be working together with Priya Oberoi, Lauren Georg and Aya Suzuki, CFA in GG Ventures to realize their mission - to back category-defining, AI-native companies at the intersection of Women’s Health, Sports, and Longevity. 


Joining their incredible line up of advisors, I look forward to sharing my clinical experience and expertise to help identify the best start-ups.

In a time where women’s health is facing deep systemic challenges, we need innovation now more than ever.

𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.


But the truth is, these often require significant funding to bring from bench to bedside - and even then, it still needs to be commercially viable to truly provide long term change.

Together with the GG venture team, I look forward to grow and learn more about the venture capital ecosystem as it remains to be a critical component of the healthcare innovation ecosystem.

😎 Watch this space as more is to come! 

😊 Thank you again to the team for the trust and vote of confidence! 


Let's get to work! 💪

I celebrated my 32nd birthday over the weekend!

Surrounded by the family I love and a gorgeous pistachio white chocolate cake,

I am beyond grateful for where I am now in life.


Time seemed to have flown by quickly as always,

And I just want to make a note of what happened over the past year.


1. Started out the year with a bang with the arrival of my baby daughter,

2. Joined the Medical Consulting Group as Co-founder,

3. Completed our rebrand and launched our new website with SomX,

4. Attended HLTH Europe as a UK ambassador,

5. Joined 💊THE FIX as curator of clinical collaboration,

6. Joined GG Ventures as an expert advisor,

7. Invited to be HealthTechX Global’s ambassador,

8. Took on 2 awesome mentees - Dr Hans Johnson and Hamza Bin-Majid,

9. Found a great women health mentor in Dr Claudia Pastides,

10. Launched 19 Linkedin Lives with some great speakers,

11. Spoke to and advised 87 HealthTech companies, 

12. Continue to progress on my clinical oncology training,

13. Juggled 2 children under 2.  

____________________________

2025 has been by far, the most intense year of my life. 

But it is also a time where I am so deeply grateful for. 


I love being a father, 

I love helping patients, 

I love helping founders build much needed innovation for healthcare.


So in the famous words of Sting,

More of this please! 


Thank you to all of you lovely folks for supporting me on this journey!

P.S. Here is a slice of cake for you! 

(Many thanks to my lovely wife who got it for me! 🥰 )

Why don’t women’s health innovations ever seem to reach women?

The uncomfortable truth is that it’s not about a lack of ideas or talent.


It’s about a system engineered to fail them, step by step.

The data shows how a cascade of funding and structural barriers compound until almost nothing gets through.

________________________

🔬 𝐑&𝐃 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫 = 𝟎.𝟎𝟏

Only 1% of pharmaceutical research spending outside oncology targets women’s-health conditions. 

Innovation for half the population is effectively a rounding error.


💸 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫 = 𝟎.𝟎𝟗

Just 9% of European healthtech VC reaches FemTech Startups.  

Nine out of ten women’s-health innovations stall before they even make it to product stage.


🧪 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫 = 𝟎.𝟏𝟔

Only 16% of EU MedTech deals go into diagnostics companies, the very sector responsible for early detection and prevention.


👩‍🔬 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫 = 𝟎.𝟎𝟏

All-female founding teams in Europe receive less than 1% of VC capital.

Which is important as it is women who often build in this space.

________________________

🚧 Each barrier alone is a hurdle.

𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. Leading to such an exponential attrition rate that leads us to where we are today.

It’s a structural design flaw in how capital, science, and politics interact.

With very real world consequences. 


Closing the women’s-health gap could add $1 trillion to global GDP annually by 2040, through higher productivity, longer healthy life-years, and smarter care systems.

But to do so requires deliberate action.

________________________

This analysis was created in collaboration with Carmen van Vilsteren, an exited healthtech founder with deep involvement in multiple women’s health companies who’s lived this reality from both sides, building companies and navigating the barriers first-hand.

👇 The message is clear:

𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝.

Now is the time to change that.

Emmie Faust | Bianca Glang, MSc. | Valentina Milanova | Dr Claudia Pastides | Katherine Church | Karina Vazirova | Ashleigh Niziol |

HealthTech investing is hard, and it should be.

Because the stakes aren’t just about market share or margins.

They’re also about impacting real patients, clinicians, and systems.


After years of working with founders, clinicians, and investors across the healthtech ecosystem, I realised there wasn’t a simple, practical guide to help investors evaluate growth-stage startups systematically.

One that balances commercial promise with clinical credibility.

__________________________

So together with the team at IBIS Capital, 

We created the HealthTech Investor Cheat Sheet: A one-page framework that breaks down what really matters into 5 pillars:


🔨 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Does it solve a real problem in a scalable way, with data to prove it?

🏛️ 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 & 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Is it proactively compliant or paralysed by complexity?

👥 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦: Do they blend clinical, regulatory, and commercial expertise +  have external validation?

💵 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 & 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐬: Is there true clarity on the TAM and go-to-market pathways (especially within the NHS)?

💰 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬: Is there a credible path to profitable scale?


For founders, this is also a checklist to stress-test your own startup before the investor due diligence call.

Because the best healthtech companies don’t just raise capital, 

They earn trust. 🤝 

___________________________


👇 And if you want to see these principles in action,

Join us at the upcoming HealthTechX Global Summit (5 Nov 2025)! 

Where we’ll be bringing together founders, investors, and policymakers to drive better healthcare outcomes through smarter innovation.

💎 Use our exclusive discount code: HTXDISCOUNT30 to get a generous 30% off!  

💪 Let’s make healthtech investment as rigorous and human as the healthcare we aim to improve. 


P.S. What else would you add when it comes to evaluating startups for investment?

Steve Roest | Cameron Thompson | Carolyn McIntyre | Estia Ryan | Priya Oberoi | Sabrina Colin | Michelle Tempest | Jonathan Slotkin |

"How did you find your niche in a field as broad ranging as health tech, especially while working in clinical medicine?"

I was asked this twice separately yesterday by two doctors early in their careers.

It got me thinking just how much variety there can be.

Showing is easier than telling, 

So here we go.

_____________________________

1. You can choose to work in Big Tech and Consulting.

Dr. Vishaal Virani, MBBS at YouTube
Dr Lucinda Scharff at Google for Health
Dr Avi Mehra at IBM
Michelle Tempest at Candesic
Dr Annabelle Painter at Visiba UK

2. You could set up your own consultancy.

Dr Thomas Maggs at Medical Consulting Group
Dr Hugh Harvey at Hardian Health
Paul Hercock at Mantra Systems
Dr Rizwan Malik at SMR Health & Tech
Dr Keith Grimes at Curistica
Michael Watts at Blüm Health

3. You could set up your own Start-up and business.

Dr Bea Bakshi at C the Signs
Farzana Rahman at Hexarad
Dr. Abeyna Jones at Medic Footprints
Dr. James Somauroo at SomX
Dr. Paul Jewell at Assuric
Dr. Azeem Alam BEM at BiteWorld

4. You could work at the interface between academia and industry.

David Lowe at Digital Health Validation Lab (DHVL)
Susan Shelmerdine MBBS, PhD
Professor Gerald Lip

5. You could work in Venture Capital.

Chantal Cox at Octopus Ventures

___________________________

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.

You don't need permission to explore your potential outside of medicine.

You DO need initiative, curiosity and an unending willingness to learn.

And courage to explore a likely squiggly path.


But if there is one lesson I wish to impart, it is simply this.

Everyone above have found the "thing" that they most resonate with.

Their "thing" may not be your "thing". 


𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 and find what you are most passionate about.

And I promise you will be excellent.

One in a million.


Do your best, I wish you well! 🤗 

P.S. To those who have treaded the path, what advice would you give?

Lots of people assume that investing in women's health is nothing but a cost.

Many of them don't realise that there is significant economic evidence that points towards a significant ROI for every pound we invest.

Here is a short and simple carousel that showcases this.

All references are shown in the carousel itself. 

Let me know what you think!

Emmie Faust | Carmen van Vilsteren | Priya Oberoi | Leo Tyson | Estia Ryan | Gayle Curry | Aahuti Rai | Ashleigh Niziol |

Women's Health: A sound investment.

Shame and Taboo have no place in healthcare.

I will never forget a consultation we had with a lady who presented to us late with severe pelvic pain and copious discharge.

She had left it for over 6 months because she felt embarrassed about her condition.

Wearing pads and stuffing tissue paper to cover up the blood and pus. 

It wasn’t until her family member found the tissues, did they sound the alarm bells.


She was found to have a very locally advanced cervical cancer, spreading to distal lymph nodes. 

She burst into tears and couldn't console the fact that she had left this for far too long.

But more than that, she was afraid and felt so alone in dealing with her intimate problems.

She knew something was wrong but felt too much fear and shame to raise it up. 

___________________________

That case got me reflecting heavily. 

𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲.

When we make normal health conditions and body parts such as vaginas, cervixes and vulvas taboo to talk about,
 
𝗜𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗼.

When we censor conversations on social media about sexuality and women's health, 

𝗪𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝘀𝗵 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.


Censorship (or should I say CensHERship) does more than hinder economic progress.

It has deep and unseen societal consequences. 

It is personal and painful.


Talking about vulvas and vaginas is not vulgar unless we make it so. 

𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

(Ironically this post might get shadow banned too because of the topic)

P.S. If you are aged 25 to 64, a cervical smear might just save your life. 

P.P.S Check out the great advocacy work that CensHERship is doing on this exact issue!

I’m really excited to share that we’re partnering with Blüm Health! 

Michael Watts and his team are ones I’ve admired for a long time for the way they build sensible, safe, and truly usable clinical technology.

At MCG, we’re often approached by clinical founding teams who’ve done the hard part: 

- They’ve lived the problem, 
- They’ve understood the pathway, 
- And they’re ready to build.

But what they really need is a trustworthy development partner.

Someone who understands how to build in a clinical context, with all the complexity and responsibility that comes with it.

_________________________

That’s where Blüm comes in.

They’ve been trusted time and again by the NHS itself to design and deliver digital health solutions that actually work in practice. 

Their track record certainly speaks for itself.


By working together, we’re bringing two worlds closer:

- MCG’s clinical and strategic expertise to guide innovators through the healthcare system.

- Blüm’s technical excellence and NHS-proven delivery capability.

_________________________

Our goal is simple: to help innovators build tools that are clinically sound, technically solid, and genuinely ready for real-world care.

If you’re a HealthTech team looking for the right clinical stakeholders and expertise : I’d love to chat. 🙋 

If you're looking for technical excellence to build the best tools for healthcare: Do reach out to the team at Blüm Health! 😊

We are thinking of hosting a “Women’s Health 101 For Men” webinar. 

And I would like to gather some ideas from the community. 


Recently I had a great discussion with Leo Tyson from Nexus Connected. 

We talked about how men can sometimes feel excluded on the topic of women’s health - even if they are genuinely interested in the subject. 

After all, there are good men out there who want to understand their own partners and family members' health. 


So we are looking to organise a clinically sound webinar that touches on the important topics of women’s health. 

𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞:

👩‍⚕️ Delivered by actual qualified healthcare professionals.
✅ No pseudoscience, only real evidence and facts. 
👍 Delivered at a beginner level, no background knowledge needed. 

The aim would be to deliver something that is not intimidating and welcoming to men. 

(and also women, if they would like to attend).

________________________

𝐒𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬:

♂️ For the men:

1. Would you be keen to join such a webinar?

2. What topics would you like us to cover?


♀️ For the women:

1. What topics do you think is a must cover at a beginner level? 
(i.e. what do you wish more men would understand about women’s health?)

2. What other more advanced topics do you think would be good to cover later?

3. Who are some great speakers you would recommend?

__________________________

If you find this useful, do fill up the below Google form to help us gauge interest:

https://lnkd.in/erv6BVwn

Many thanks and looking forward to your replies! ☺️ 


P.S. We are also looking to organise a webinar that talks about the FemTech / Women’s health business landscape as well, but more on that later! 

Dr Claudia Pastides | Dr Emma Thornton | Katherine Church | Priya Oberoi | Benjamin Viaris de Lesegno | Shree Datta |

About 20-30% of founders reaching out to me, are looking for clinicians to “clinically validate” their product.

Today we will be talking about what exactly this means.


Let us start off by talking about what clinical validation is NOT.

 👇 It is not:

❌ Getting a clinician to look through your app once and “signing” it off. 

❌ Speaking to a few patients on a WhatsApp group and getting thumbs up emojis.

❌ Pitching your idea to one doctor and getting a polite response. 


(I have seen people claim the above as validation before.) 

__________________________

Robust clinical validation comes in 3 escalating stages: 

𝟏. 𝐀 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐲.

This essentially requires a real clinical expert with experience delivering care in the field that you are innovating in to comb through your product offering, looking closely at:

How accurate your current outputs are
How closely this reflects current practice
The evidence base behind your recommendation

It is time consuming and requires working closely with your product team to iterate changes as they work.


𝟐. 𝐀 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬.

This will involve a structured approach of testing out your product or service with your target end users. 

The goal being to assess the usability and safety of your product, efficacy is a bonus. 

Here you are looking to get unbiased feedback about how your product works and how it fits into the current pathway. 

(It is incredibly useful evidence and great PR too)


𝟑. 𝐀 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥. 

Not all HealthTech offerings need to come to this stage. 

But those that are therapeutic or diagnostic certainly do - particularly if you need to obtain regulatory approval. 

Trials can be run in the community or in hospital settings.

It needs structure, a proper protocol and ethics approval. 

With set endpoints, ideally randomised and with a control arm. 

_____________________________

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 

Either you generate new evidence for your novel product,

Or you deliver services based on current best evidence. 


👉 Either way, you need proper clinical expertise for this. 


So the next time, you hear someone asking for clinical validation,

Probe to see if all they want is a clinician to be on their shiny deck to raise investment,

Or if they are genuine in wanting to deliver the best care possible.


P.S. What else would you add?

Dr. Louise Rix | Dr Rizwan Malik | Dr Gordon le Roux | Dr Thomas Maggs | Amy Pillinger | Dr Claudia Pastides |

The very best roles and opportunities are not something you can apply for.

They are often invitation only, behind the scenes. 


The longer I work in industry, the more I realise how true this is.

Be it:

- Invitations to speak in prestigious conferences.

- Board membership and advisory roles in startups.

- Brand ambassadorship.

- Executive positions.


At a certain level, expertise and ability is a given. 

The currency that then matters is TRUST. 


Trust is built through FAMILIARITY. 

Which in turn is built through CONSISTENCY and VISIBILITY.


Consistency means showing up again and again in the spaces that matter.

Visibility means being eloquent about the value you bring.


But ultimately, you can only do both if you are AUTHENTIC to your true self.


It means knowing yourself well. 

- What you hate.

- What you love.

- What keeps you up at night.

- What you are willing to sacrifice time, energy and effort for.


I find that the answers to the above do not come with just quiet introspection.

It comes only when you clash against the real world.


- You speak to lots of people.

- You work on projects that take time. 

- You experiment, fail, try and try again.


The more you do, the more you know yourself.

Your purpose becomes clear, and others know who you are and what you stand for.


Then, the right opportunities will come. 


Just a short reflection of my own experience so far.

What do you think of the above? 

Dr. Abeyna Jones | Dr Ally Jaffee MBChB BSc | Susan Shelmerdine MBBS, PhD | David Tang | Dr Tom Gedman |

Am I the only one mourning the rapid loss of human written content?

Honestly at this point, I find grammatical errors and spelling mistakes refreshing as it tells me that a post is likely written by a human and not a bot. 

And then we have the AI comments that often seem perfectly written but always missing the point.


So we have AI written posts and AI written comments. 

Robots talking to robots. 

What’s the point? 😕

Clinicians and startups don’t always work well with each other. 

I have seen a lot of clinicians being taken advantage of by startups.

I have also seen startups being left to the whims of a clinician who simply overpromised and under-delivered. 


The truth is, both sides need to come to a middle ground and work together equitably. 

Let’s talk about both sides of the story.

________________________________

👨‍⚕️ Side 1: Clinician.

It is a common occurrence that not just early stage startups but even massive conglomerations and companies would try and get clinicians to do high value work for them for free.

We are not talking about charities or non profits here.

We are talking about revenue generating companies asking clinicians to dedicate hours upon hours of their time.

Often disguising this with terms like “Collaboration”.

Often promising nothing more than “Exposure” or “Visibility”

Which is honestly BS. 

And to clinicians (even very senior ones) who are unfamiliar with how industry works, they often jump at the bit as they get excited with the prospect of aligning their work with a big name.

Not knowing that their more savvy counterpart would charge for their time rightfully (and that the company actually can pay if you ask)

________________________________

🚀 Side 2: Startups 

But I am not going to pretend that ALL clinicians are gold dust and the best thing since sliced bread. 

Because I have also seen how the wrong clinician can cause a start-up to implode or stall.

3 commons scenarios I have seen:

1. Clinicians with too big an ego to work as a team, often taking a my way or the highway approach. 

2. Clinicians who initially work well with startups but after a period of time, fizzle out of enthusiasm and time.

3. Clinicians who don’t actually have the knowledge or skillset to do the required task such as setting up a clinical trial or undertake regulatory filings. 

Which leaves the founders in a position where they have burnt lots of time and money on the wrong person.

Finding the right unicorn clinician that has the right personality, time availability, skillset and mindset is easier said than done.

_____________________________

So my simple advice is this:

1. Put everything down in black and white. 
2. Be crystal clear what is expected of both parties.
3. Take time and effort to build a long term relationship.
4. Explore other options, be it clinicians or startups. 
5. Personality and mindset > ability on paper. 


P.S. What else would you add?

Grant Nolan | Dr Rizwan Malik | Dr Dom Pimenta M.D. | Chantal Cox | Gurpreet Singh MD MBA | Dr Faris Al-Ramadani | Dr. Abeyna Jones | Dr Thomas Maggs | Dr Sujitha Selvarajah |

How does NHS HealthTech commissioning ACTUALLY work?

We will be tackling this big topic next week in our Linkedin Live.

Joining me is the incredible Dr Jihad Malasi who is the ICS Clinical Lead for Mental Health for Kent and Medway ICB and the previous clinical chair of NHS Thanet CCG.

Dr. Malasi has held several strategic roles within clinical commissioning and his experience is based on clinical leadership roles held across 15 years in mental health, children and maternity & learning disabilities.

Additionally, he has also held strategic roles in large scale transformation such as regional stroke reconfiguration, community & hospital transformation. 

Nationally, he is a committee member at the National Institute for Clinical Excellence on the Medical Technologies Assessments Committee (MedTech/MTAC).

Suffice to say, I have brought the big guns to tackle this important topic. 😎 

_________________________

𝐈𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠:

1. What does healthtech commissioning mean?
2. What are the various pathways healthtech products get commissioned into the NHS?
3. How does a local NHS authority make decisions on what to commission?
4. How can a startup best prepare and position themselves for success?
5. The early pitfalls to avoid. 

Join us next wednesday if you would like to get some incredible insights not easily found elsewhere!

♻️ Please share or repost this if you find this useful!

😊 We hope to see you there. 

Clara Toombs | Leo Tyson | Pol Cervera | James Levy-Vassie | Katrina Laks |

NHS HealthTech Commissioning 101 for HealthTech Start-ups.

“Why should we pay for your services?”

The inevitable question every business owner has to answer, ourselves included.


Would people pay to engage clinical stakeholders and key opinion leaders?

According to over 45 of our clients - Yes.

__________________________

🧐 But why? 

Well, there are 4 key reasons.


𝟏. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞. 

Many of the larger companies we work with need to speak to 30-50 clinicians rapidly over a month or two. 

And it is REALLY difficult to meet, schedule, contract and arrange payment for all of them unless they have dedicated AND experienced internal staff for this.

I.E. They have the funds, but not the manpower or time to schedule meetings fast enough.


𝟐. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲. 

You will be surprised to find that quite a few of our clients prefer that we conduct the interviews on their behalf as they are conscious that these clinicians may give biased answers if they were speaking to them directly.

But to a third party, the interviews and market research can be more objective.


𝟑. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞. 

Most companies have very specific requirements. 

They don’t just need any doctor.

They need a respiratory physician with experience setting up virtual wards and knows how to use remote monitoring technology.

Or a medical oncologist who specialises in liver cancer that understands using bio-similars in the immunotherapy setting.

You just can’t Google or LinkedIn such a profile. 


𝟒. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝.

Interestingly, a lot of companies have told us they DON’T want clinicians from the London area.

And they appreciate it a lot when we provide a good spread across the country. 

This ups the difficulty level as they are harder to find.

_______________________

As our clinical network spans wide and deep into every single speciality and region within the UK, we have optimised over the past 3 years how we engage clinicians.

Allowing us to meet the 4 requirements quite easily. 


In truth, our services and expertise come at a premium.

And we often advise very early stage companies to sweat their own personal network first if they are keen to engage clinicians.


But if you need to optimise for speed, quality and niche,

Do reach out to us here:
https://lnkd.in/eYyRaiTP  

________________________________

P.S. How would you answer if someone asks why should they pay for your services?

Simon Pillinger | Dr. James Somauroo | Tim Wright | Lucy L. | Michael Bell | Liz Ashall-Payne | Trish Parry | Liam Cahill |

Clinical engagement is anything but easy. 

Over the past 3 years, we have been building our clinical network to streamline the way HealthTech and BioTech start-ups reach out to highly qualified clinicians. 

We were asked by a few of our prospective clients to share more about our clinical network, 

So here we go!

_________________________

🥜 In a nutshell, our network has:

- >1600 highly qualified clinicians.
- Representation from every speciality
- >70% with over 10 years of clinical experience

Having placed over 200+ clinicians in a variety of consulting jobs and served 50+ clients in the biotech and healthtech space,

We have significantly refined our process to ensure each engagement goes as smoothly as possible.

__________________________

But if you think that numbers are all that matter in a network, 

You would be mistaken.


💎 Ultimately, clients are looking for (and would only pay for) QUALITY. 

This means:

1. Key opinion leaders in the space they are innovating in.
2. Decision makers in their respective departments.
3. Clinicians with a track record of excellence.

Which is why our team has painstakingly met and developed relationships with the top clinical profiles to ensure we can call upon them when the need arises.

And why we take a personal approach rather than build a soulless platform. 

_______________________

Our vision is simple.

When healthcare innovators get access to the best clinical minds, they are supercharged to build amazing tools for healthcare. 

🤝 Our job is to bring the best of both worlds together.


If this has resonated with you, please do reach out to us here:
https://lnkd.in/eYyRaiTP

😊 We can’t wait to build with you.

P.S. Have you joined our clinical network?

Medical Consulting Group - Clinical Network. 

Do clinicians have a role to play in HealthTech Investing?

We answer that question in this month's newsletter.

As a team, we at the Medical Consulting Group have been engaging/ been engaged by investors over the past few years relatively frequently.

Often for a sense check to assess whether a HealthTech product makes clinical sense +/- whether the founders claims are valid.

______________________________

In this piece, we share our own real life experience on how this process works.

Arbitrarily, we divide clinical due diligence into 3 ascending levels:

1. Informal review
2. Investment committee meeting
3. Systematic review

Sharing what each level is like and what kind of work is expected. 

Tune in as well to check out a formal checklist that we have created with IBIS Capital on how should HealthTech investors evaluate startups!

📌 You can check it out here:
https://lnkd.in/eUfB6sbU 

____________________________

As per usual, we have included our updated consulting opportunity list at the end of our newsletter.

If you fit the clinical profile we are looking for, please do reach out to Dr Thomas Maggs.

All roles are paid at an industry rate. 
(and we sort out all the pesky paperwork).

P.S. HealthTechX Global Summit is shaping out to be the event of the season! We have included a generous discount link as well. Do check it out!

Cameron Thompson | Carolyn McIntyre | Dr. Shaun Kuan | Priya Oberoi |

What would you like to be written in your obituary?

I have been thinking about this since my grandmother’s recent passing.


Death is no stranger in my line of profession as a cancer doctor.

But instead of a passing guest, it stayed and lingered in our lives this week.


And it has gotten me to reflect upon how we live our lives,

And the legacy we hope to leave behind.


Would we talk about our job promotions or successful businesses in our obituary?

Would we brag about the money in our bank accounts, our cars and properties?

Or would we talk about the lives we have touched, and the love we have given?


Death comes to us all. 

But we often live as though it doesn’t.


I have seen over a hundred deaths in my career.

Each one a solemn event, each one different.


I have stood by the side of patients in their last moment.

Feeling for a pulse that isn’t there, listening into a quiet chest.


And I often wonder about the life that they had once lived.

Regrets, happiness, ambition - comes to an end eventually. 


But we leave behind the people we love and who love us back.


As a family, we have been recounting fond memories of our grandmother.

We talked, we shared photos, we laughed, we cried. 


And it reminded me again, that what is truly important -

Are the people who would one day do the same for us. 


May we never forget this.


What would you like to be remembered for?

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