Healthcare Predictions for the UK in 2026
The UK’s healthcare sector is entering a transformative period. Digital systems are steadily replacing legacy software and automation tools roll out at speed to cut back the time clinicians spend on manual, repetitive tasks.
What once felt like a distant future vision is increasingly becoming an operational reality. An increasingly supportive legislative environment within the UK has left me optimistic about what’s ahead in the next year.
The following predictions are informed by my experiences as an NHS doctor, a healthcare consultant, and now as a healthtech start-up founder and CEO. Speaking with consultants, clinicians, and those right at the very top of the NHS, I foresee an exciting time for healthcare in 2026.
Healthcare comes back to the community
In 2026, I expect care to shift away from large urban centres and back into communities. More integrated care systems will look beyond hospitals and into high-street clinics, pharmacies, and virtual consultation hubs that give patients quicker access to primary care. This trend already has momentum, with the NHS allocating a budget towards 250 new Neighbourhood Health Centres across the UK.
Redistribution of care is essential to addressing the UK’s healthcare deserts, where millions face extended travel times and delayed access to routine appointments. By empowering our generalist clinician population with better training, decision-support tools and diagnostic technology, the UK can begin repairing its clinician confidence crisis – a crisis that has contributed to high referral rates and overwhelmed hospitals.
Uniting siloed data
One of the biggest barriers to efficient care in the UK is fragmented data. Clinicians routinely bounce between incompatible systems – both legacy and modern – creating delays and gaps in clinical decision-making.
I expect the rise of shared care records to evolve. Rather than simply compiling information from multiple providers, these records will become dynamic platforms that help identify patient risk, flag medication conflicts, and automatically summarise complex histories for clinicians. This shift will reduce duplication, save time, and enable more proactive treatment pathways.
Patients, too, will benefit from more transparent control over their health information. We’re already seeing improvements made to the NHS app, allowing patients to easily access medical records and appointment letters in one centralised location.
AI tackles burnout
Burnout remains one of the most pressing challenges facing UK healthcare, causing thousands of clinicians to leave the workforce each year. Whilst it would be unwise to assume AI is a magic cure to solve this, when deployed correctly it can significantly ease the cognitive load on clinicians.
In 2026, we will see widespread adoption of AI tools that automate time-consuming administrative tasks: drafting clinical notes, summarising consultations, writing referral and treatment proposal letters, and decrypting diagnoses.
On the clinical side, AI-driven decision support will help reduce the emotional strain of diagnostic uncertainty. From radiology to dermatology and general practice, clinicians will use AI as a second pair of eyes.
Appropriate training and regulations for the rollout of AI must be instated, so that it becomes not a replacement, but a confidence-building assistant that improves accuracy and reduces the stress associated with complex decision-making.
The result will be a healthcare environment where clinicians spend more time with patients and less time trapped in paperwork, ultimately improving retention and morale.
Clinician connectivity
A connected clinician workforce will be another defining feature of 2026. We’re increasingly seeing an appetite amongst clinicians to work together, as you would in a hospital for example. However, collaborative healthcare has lost its way at the primary care level – our clinicians just don’t have access to the networks nor technology to facilitate that connectivity.
I think 2026 will be a major birthing moment for collaboration tools specifically designed for healthcare. You see these types of tools already used in many other areas of work; now it’s time for them to enter the healthcare space.
These platforms will support the shift towards integrated care. Rather than operating as isolated units, GPs, pharmacists, specialists, and community nurses will communicate in real time, sharing files, photos and scans, treatment plans, and patient updates. This fluidity will ensure smoother handovers, faster escalations, and fewer patients falling through the cracks.
Healthcare regulation steps up
As technological innovation advances, regulatory frameworks will need to keep pace. The UK is already poised to strengthen its regulatory framework around AI, data usage, and digital health tools, having announced the formation of an AI commission to bring technological advancements to the frontlines quicker, earlier this year.
Rather than stifling innovation, the new regulatory landscape will bring clarity. Developers will benefit from clearer expectations around algorithm transparency, clinical validation, and post-market surveillance. Providers will gain confidence in adopting technologies that meet robust standards.
So too will cosmetic and beauty healthcare regulation require a rewrite. The worrying increase in cosmetic treatments-gone-wrong over the past year has only been encouraged by flimsy regulation surrounding unregulated or DIY healthcare providers. I expect we’ll see more of an effort to hold businesses to account in 2026.
Looking ahead
The next year will be an exciting period for healthcare innovation. The government has signalled clear intent to embrace healthcare technology, through supportive legislation, regulation, and funding. Where once healthcare was moved away from local communities, we’ll now see a return to neighbourhood care led by technology-empowered clinicians.
About the author
Dr Sonia Szamocki is founder and CEO at 32Co, a leading UK healthtech company connecting clinicians to perform specialist care at high street practices. Dr Szamocki is a former NHS doctor, training at Oxford University and practicing at some of the world’s leading teaching hospitals in Emergency Medicine. Dr Szamocki's experiences in healthcare inspired her to create 32Co, realising that access to novel or specialised treatments is restricted by the small population of clinicians qualified to offer the treatment.
