Innovation in the NHS: Personalised Medicine and AI Inquiry

House of Lords Science and Technology Committee Inquiry: What you need to know

Get involved: shape the industry response

techUK is coordinating an industry response to the inquiry. To influence the official techUK response, you can contribute as follows:

Join our Members Forum on 31 March to discuss the inquiry themes and help shape our collective submission. Register here.
To share insights, discuss the inquiry themes, or arrange a one-to-one conversation, please reach out to Viola Pastorino, Health and Social Care team at techUK (e: [email protected])

On 9 March 2026, the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee launched a new inquiry into Innovation in the NHS: Personalised Medicine and AI. Chaired by Lord Mair CBE, the inquiry uses personalised medicine as a case study to understand why the NHS struggles to adopt the UK’s cutting-edge life sciences innovations, and what could be done to fix it.

For techUK members working across health technology, AI, data analytics, genomics, digital health, and life sciences, this inquiry represents a significant opportunity to influence Parliamentary thinking on the barriers to NHS innovation and the reforms needed to overcome them.

Why this Inquiry matters

Personalised medicine is one of the most promising frontiers in healthcare. Yet the NHS has long struggled to translate recent breakthroughs into routine patient care. The Committee’s inquiry is designed to understand why, and to identify actionable reforms. As Lord Mair put it when launching the inquiry, the Committee intends to examine the gap between early-stage research, clinical trials, and NHS-wide delivery, looking at the blockages in the system that slow progress.

The inquiry sits alongside several major policy developments,(e.g. Government’s NHS 10 Year Health Plan, the National Cancer Plan, and the ongoing work of the MHRA’s National Commission on AI). A strong, evidence-based technology industry perspective will be critical to ensuring that the Committee’s recommendations are grounded in the practical realities of deploying innovation in healthcare settings.

What the Committee wants to know

The call for evidence is structured around eight questions, spanning two broad areas: the science and technology underpinning personalised medicine, and the practical challenges of deploying innovation within the NHS.

The science and technology

The scientific background. The Committee wants to understand the current state of genomics, AI-driven diagnostics, and advanced therapies and where the most significant near-term opportunities lie for NHS patients. It asks where the major gaps in understanding remain and which research projects should be prioritised by bodies like the NIHR and the MRC.

The role of AI. A dedicated question explores the realistic potential of AI to accelerate personalised medicine and reduce its costs. The Committee is interested in where existing AI tools could be most effective, how significant recent advances like AlphaGenome really are, and whether Government targets around AI-accelerated drug discovery are achievable.

Health data infrastructure. Personalised medicine depends on large-scale genomic and health data being accessible and linked together. The Committee asks what further infrastructure is needed in terms of data accessibility and compute, how effectively the Government has linked health data to date, and whether the NHS’s digital and IT systems represent a major barrier. A critical sub-question addresses public trust — an issue that has historically set back health data research.

The life sciences sector. This theme assesses the UK’s effectiveness at translating its research strengths into clinically validated tools and a thriving industrial base. The Committee asks directly whether innovative start-ups, SMEs, and industrial partners are being driven overseas by failures in procurement, sluggish regulation, or lack of support for scale-up.

Deployment and the NHS

Deployment in practice. The Committee wants to identify the key systemic barriers (procurement processes, workforce limitations, IT infrastructure) that prevent proven innovations from reaching patients. It asks why previous attempts to fix this have not succeeded, seeks examples of good practice, and explicitly invites the patient perspective.

Regulation. How should the MHRA, NICE, and professional bodies balance rigorous evaluation with timely access for patients? The Committee questions whether the MHRA has sufficient capacity under its new leadership, and whether the framework for software and AI as a medical device is keeping pace with the technology.

Health economics. Personalised treatments can be expensive and may not fit neatly within NICE’s cost-effectiveness models. The Committee asks whether current appraisal and commissioning frameworks are appropriate, and whether fragmentation in how personalised treatments are funded creates additional barriers.

Government strategy. The final theme asks what the Government should do to strengthen the feedback loop between medical research, industry, and the NHS — and whether the current structures for governing and overseeing innovation are fit for purpose. The Committee also probes whether fragmentation across trusts, integrated care boards, and national bodies is contributing to uneven adoption.

How techUK is responding

techUK is preparing a coordinated industry submission that draws on the expertise and experience of our health tech and life sciences membership. Our aim is to provide the Committee with concrete, actionable evidence on the barriers to NHS innovation and practical recommendations for reform.

We are currently engaging with members through a series of one-to-one conversations and will bring the emerging themes together at an open Members Forum on 31 March. Following the forum, a draft submission will be circulated to contributing members for review in the week of 8 April, with final comments due by 14 April ahead of the 20 April deadline.

Get involved

Whether your organisation works in AI and data analytics, digital health and NHS IT, genomics and precision medicine, health data platforms, regulatory affairs, or life sciences, your perspective will strengthen the evidence base for this inquiry.

You can contribute by joining our Members Forum on 31 March, by submitting independently through the Committee’s Call for Evidence portal, or by reaching out to discuss the inquiry themes with us directly.

For any questions, to share evidence and insights, or to arrange a one-to-one conversation, please contact Viola Pastorino, Health and Social Care team, techUK (e: [email protected])

Viola Pastorino

Junior Programme Manager, Health and Care Team, techUK

Viola Pastorino is a policy, governance, and strategic communication specialist.

She joined techUK as the Junior Programme Manager in the Health and Care Team in April 2024.

She has obtained a Bachelor of Sciences in Governance, Economics, and Development from Leiden University, and a Master's programme in Strategic Communications at King's College London. Her academic background, leading up to a dissertation on AI policy influence and hands-on campaign development, is complemented by practical experience in international PR and grassroots project management.

She is skilled in qualitative and quantitative analysis and comfortable communicating findings to varying stakeholders. Above all, she is deeply passionate about the intersection of technology and government, especially how technology and global discourse shape one another, the processes that lead to belief polarisation and radicalisation of communities, and crafting strategic narratives that steer public discourse.

Outside of work she loves reading, live music light operation, and diving.

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