Health 2025 - A Year In Review

At the start of the year, President Trump’s return to office reignited pricing debates, whilst the appointment of Robert Kennedy Jr into a public health role further compounded the issue of trust in pharmaceuticals and scientific and public health bodies.  

Scientifically, 2025 has given us reasons to be hopeful. In oncology, progress that has been long promised is starting to materialise. Earlier detection tools, new immunotherapy combinations and increasingly precise treatments are starting to shift outcomes in ways that feel meaningful.  

The same sense of forward movement is evident in Alzheimer’s disease. Therapies that slow disease progression are providing hope for the first time, even if the challenge of getting these to patients remains. As scientific innovation outpaces the systems built to deliver it, these challenges are going to crop up more and more across many disease areas. 

It’s impossible to think of 2025 without mentioning obesity, and the explosion in demand for weight-loss medicines – reshaping everything from clinical practice to societal norms. 

Across all of this, technology weaves everything together. Consumers now expect healthcare to be as accessible as any other digital service. Wearables and diagnostics are giving people real-time visibility into their own health. And AI is transforming drug discovery and development at a pace that would have sounded unrealistic even five years ago. 

But for all the breakthroughs, the threats haven’t gone anywhere. Antimicrobial resistance remains one of the biggest and most under-appreciated dangers — a slow, steady crisis that for me personally was all too present in 2025. 

As we head into 2026 whilst I’m sure the complexity, chaos and challenges will remain, I am genuinely optimistic about what’s possible when science, policy and communication move forward together. All of us at Hanover care about getting the best possible outcomes for patients and the public. 

2025 IN REVIEW: THE BIG POLICY MOMENTS 

Our team reflects on some of the biggest policy moments this year, sharing their reflections on 2025 and their hopes for the future.  

THE 10-YEAR HEALTH PLAN AND LIFE SCIENCES SECTOR PLAN 

Looking back on 2025, what strikes us about both the 10-Year Health Plan and the Life Sciences Sector Plan is the growing gap between ambition and bandwidth. The system is being asked to simultaneously abolish NHS England, halve ICB running costs and deliver a wholesale “left shift” to neighbourhood health, all on funding growth that looks more like 2010s-style austerity than a true reset.  

‘Yet there are real points of progress: a clearer five-year planning framework, early neighbourhood health pioneers, a more honest conversation about productivity, and a stronger signal that medicines, MedTech and clinical research are integral to NHS reform, not an optional extra.’  Helen McKenna, Director 

Looking ahead to 2026, we’re most excited about whether those strands can be pulled together into something patients can actually feel: neighbourhood centres that genuinely join up primary, community and social care; digital tools that simplify access rather than adding another app; and a workforce plan that starts from skills and new roles, not just headcount. By 2030, our prediction is that success will be judged less on whether every 10YP KPI was hit, and more on whether the centre has resisted the urge to constantly reorganise, been honest about trade-offs, and used the LSSP to rebuild industry confidence while protecting equitable access. If we get that right, the policy narrative will be less about unveiling new initiatives and more about coherently showing how reforms, innovation and prevention have made care feel closer, fairer and more human. 

COMMERCIAL ENVIRONMENT  

2025 has potentially been a game-changing year for the life sciences sector when it comes to its branded medicines pricing scheme. While the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth (VPAG) mid-scheme review negotiations collapsed without a deal between the UK Government and industry, geopolitics and President Trump’s trade and medicines agendas have meant that UK Government has been forced back to the negotiating table – this time with US Government. The end of 2025 also saw the US/UK trade deal which includes a reduction in the VPAG rebate rate and a c.25% increase in ICER thresholds, or the amount the NHS will pay for an individual medicine, in exchange for a 12-month tariff exemption.  

‘With this voluntary scheme only in place until the end of 2028, industry and government will need to start considering their key principles for negotiation under the next scheme. A key question remains around whether there will be a ‘voluntary’ scheme at all.’  Georgia Hunt, Associate Director  

RESTRUCTURE OF NHSE AND ICB CUTS 

2025 will go down as a landmark year for health policy in the UK. The year began with engagement for the government's ten-year plan for the health service, before the abolition of the national commissioner, NHS England, in spring, and then the publication of the government's blueprint for the service in summer.  

‘While all the attention was focused on the removal of "the world's biggest quango", perhaps the most important changes were made with less attention paid to them: cuts to budgets for local commissioners of healthcare, ICBs.‘ James Mole, Director  

In 2026, we will start to see the government deliver its plan in earnest including the publication of service frameworks for different areas of care. We will also likely see the pressure hotting up on the health secretary, and his department, to show progress and delivery in a meaningful way on elective waiting lists. In five years' time, once we are the other side of the next election, we'll have seen an(other) almighty row about how to sort out social care and still no solution, but with a lot of painful politics along the way. The NHS will have seen some progress on the government's most significant public services commitment - reducing the waiting list - but not enough for the government to get credit.   

2025 IN REVIEW: SPOTLIGHT ON DISEASES 

In this section, we spotlight specific therapy areas our team are excited about as they reflect on 2025 and share their hopes for the future. 

OBESITY  

2025 saw continued evolution of weight loss drugs, taking healthcare to new heights. People are now not only patients, but consumers, who want autonomy over the types of treatments available to them.  

‘It feels that the conversation around obesity has finally started to shift, with more people recognising that there are other factors at play that may contribute to obesity. It has started to become the norm to challenge old assumptions and have different conversations about weight.’  Emma Liddiard, Senior Account Executive  

As discussions around obesity continued to dominate this year, with several celebrities weighing in on the topic, it feels as though there is a shift towards acknowledging that obesity needs comprehensive public health measures to help reduce other associated diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and high blood pressure. The shift towards autonomy around weight management has put this control back in the public’s hands, becoming the topical debate on the front pages of several newspapers. 

‘Looking ahead into 2026, we hope discussions around obesity continue to support positive action and improved access to care, helping to challenge the stigma associated with it as people become more accustomed to the range of options available to them.’ Donna Gandhi, Senior Consultant  

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE 

When reflecting on the cardiovascular disease (CVD) landscape in the UK in 2025, challenges still persist alongside some encouraging signs of progress. We’re still seeing rising pressures from obesity, high blood pressure, and big regional health gaps – but at the same time there’s real movement, from earlier detection and easier access to effective treatments, to the NHS development of the first Modern Service Framework (MSF) for CVD.  

‘It is particularly encouraging that the MSF could represent a route to embed innovative diagnostics such as Lp(a) and FH testing, and improve NHS Health Check delivery.’  Yasmine Ali, Account Executive 

The MSF design aims to standardise high-quality, preventative care by being co-developed with national experts, flexible and iterative in structure, and grounded in scalable, evidence-based interventions.  

‘By 2030, we hope to see a truly prevention-led CVD pathway driven by genomics, smarter community-based models, and integrated digital infrastructure, reducing variation and improving outcomes for patients nationwide.’ Ellie Blundell, Consultant  

MENTAL HEALTH 

We are on the cusp of a significant shift in the serious mental illness landscape. Investment may still be cautious, but with more than 160 medicines in development and growing focus on digital and hybrid models of care, innovation is gathering pace.  

‘Digital therapeutics, AI monitoring, and personalised support are beginning to strengthen trials, improve patient stratification, and deliver more meaningful outcomes in the mental health space.’ Daisy Bartlett, Senior Account Director 

Even with this sense of cautious optimism, stigma continues to cast a long shadow. Public attitudes are shaped strongly by media portrayals, and most coverage continues to depict people living with serious mental illness as dangerous. In 2026, we hope our industry joins forces to shift this narrative and spotlight the real people behind these conditions, offering compassion and hope of a brighter future. 

WOMEN’S HEALTH 

‘2025 seems to mark a real turning point. Women’s health has shifted in media and public debate from a niche or “women’s issue” to a central, mainstream public health priority.’ Ann-Marie Stevens, Director 

With renewed policy commitments in the UK, including the addition of menopause screening to the women’s 40+ health check, alongside new treatments for endometriosis and a refreshed breast cancer screening campaign, the women’s health narrative is finally expanding beyond pregnancy, childbirth and fertility to a more holistic understanding of women’s health. 

And women themselves are driving that change – 2025 saw some big cultural moments put women’s health into the spotlight, including a former Big Brother contestant speaking candidly about perimenopause on a podcast in an authentic and candid way, sparking conversation with listeners.  

While we have made great strides in women’s health this year, there is still a long way to go.  

‘A study led by the MHRA and University of Liverpool found that there are 67% more male-only health studies than female-only. These reports present difficult findings, but by clearly recognising the problems, they mark an essential step towards improving outcomes for women, which will hopefully be outlined in the Women's Health Strategy refresh in 2026.’  Eve Hitchens, Account Executive 

CANCER 

‘With cancer now affecting 1 in 2 people, it can feel tough to stay optimistic, but every year the oncology world keeps going from strength to strength. In 2025, we’ve seen huge steps forward in precision medicine and AI diagnostics, even as challenges like access and equity remain.’  Paris Emmerson, Consultant 

Tying into the goals of the Government's 10-Year Health Plan, we’re hopeful that as incidence rises, survival and quality of life will keep improving too. Looking ahead, the growth of digital tools, better data use and cross-sector collaboration are bringing us closer to personalised cancer care, shaped by smarter prevention, earlier detection and next-generation therapies. 

‘Newly developed tests for cancers stand out as landmark achievements. Co-incidentally or not, this works in tandem with the 10-Year Plan to shift care more upstream. Our hope is that this momentum helps turn the science and its promise into practical action that reaches all populations.’ Ambika Robinson, Intern 

For much of the year a new cancer plan has been in development, the first time in 10 years since a dedicated cancer strategy has been worked up (the last being published in the summer of 2025 by the Independent Cancer Taskforce). The first opportunity to take the system reforms set out in the 10-Year Plan and apply them in a therapy area, hopes and expectations are high.  

‘It is unlikely that the cancer plan will contain many surprises when it is finally published early next year. Nobody would place bets against a strong focus remaining on the need to diagnose cancer at an earlier stage of disease in order to significantly improve our survival outcomes for patients in this country.’  Emma Greenwood, Director  

However, there are other pressing policy challenges that this cancer plan needs to address. The sector will be awaiting more detail on the commitment in the 10-Year Plan signalling every cancer patient should be offered genetic profiling of their cancers, and hoping that it clarifies that this should expand to include biomarker testing as well. There will be interest in what more can be done for less survivable cancers where outcomes have remained stubbornly low for decades. And publication will likely coincide with the next stage of the Rare Cancer Bill as it passes through parliament. With finances tight, and a significant transformation agenda, will the plan satisfy the plethora of advocacy voices? It seems unlikely, but with publication delayed from this year to give it a ‘press moment’ there is clearly high political ambition on cancer, the ‘canary in the coalmine’ of diseases.  

ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE 

2025 has been an important year in the Alzheimer’s disease space. The market approval of disease modifying treatments (DMTs) in Europe was a significant moment, but many markets including the UK still await reimbursement for these treatments, so that as many patients as possible are able to access them.  

‘This year has reinforced the momentum behind the need for earlier diagnosis in dementia, driven by conversations on diagnosis pathways and health-system readiness, even as questions around access, capacity, and equitable roll-out, remain.’  Tom Walker, Consultant 

Looking ahead to 2026, we’re most excited about the acceleration of diagnostic innovations – particularly blood-based biomarkers – and the potential for health systems to begin integrating these innovations into routine practice.  

RARE DISEASES 

As we leave 2025 behind, it really feels like the rare disease landscape is shifting in a meaningful way. The Huntington’s disease breakthrough in 2025 is a good example of that change. While there has always been hope in the community, the latest gene-therapy results feel like a fresh step forward after so many disappointments. Even without an approved treatment yet, the science is edging closer, and you can sense a renewed confidence in what might be possible. And this isn’t happening in isolation.  

‘Off the back of previous monumental approvals, such as CRISPR in sickle cell disease, there’s a growing belief that breakthroughs in one area can help unlock progress across many other rare diseases.’  Paris O’Donnell, Senior Consultant   

Looking ahead to 2026, we’re excited about how these advances could help accelerate innovation in conditions that have waited far too long. Moments like these don’t just move one field on; they lift the whole rare disease community. 

RESPIRATORY 

Despite higher awareness and advocacy, with leading charities keeping respiratory health on the agenda, respiratory disease still remains a major cause of preventable death and unplanned admissions in the UK. The patient experience is also still disjointed. Vague symptoms and unclear pathways mean people bounce around the system before they reach the right specialist, leading to delays in diagnosis and poorer outcomes. That’s partly because our services simply aren’t designed around breathlessness, even though it is a defining symptom across multiple conditions. However, there is hope for this patient population.  

‘As policy continues to shift towards prevention, with the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, the expansion of targeted lung health checks, and the continued rollout of the breathlessness pathway within neighbourhood health hubs, there is the potential to radically improve the respiratory care space.’  Jaime Gargas, Senior Consultant  

More broadly, if we can connect lung health to issues people really care about – climate, cost of living and productivity, and elevating lived experience – the UK could show what integrated, equitable, tech-enabled care really looks like. 

THE HANOVER TAKE 

Members from across the team share their ‘hot takes’ on policy and communications trends. 

FIRST FULL YEAR OF THE LABOUR GOVERNMENT 

Fifteen months into this parliamentary term, it’s clear that the unusually large intake of new MPs is still settling. The sheer scale of Labour’s victory produced a cohort who, on arrival, have not always had certainty about what issues they wanted to champion from the backbenches – a hesitation that is only now beginning to crystallise into clearer priorities and identities. This sits against a backdrop of growing Labour backbench unrest against a leadership struggling to define itself in government. 

‘In contrast, Wes Streeting and his team stand out as one of the few ministerial operations that appears to be getting on with the job with relative confidence and coherence.’  Toby Bevan, Account Director 

While there is still definitely space for political leaders to engage more with industry, there is nonetheless a shared understanding about the direction of travel, save a few areas of persistent concern (VPAG, MSFs, realising the digital agenda).  

WHAT ABOUT THE OPPOSITION? 

The sound of 2025 could be described as the death rattle of traditional party politics.  Labour have lost 40 percent of the support they had in 2024 (similar to the Conservative loss across the whole 2019-2024 period), with that support going to Reform UK and the Greens. Recent (post-budget) polls have shown Reform UK to have plateaued at 32 percent of the popular vote (predominantly fed by previous Conservative voters) and the Greens to have risen rapidly since July to 17 percent (predominantly fed by previous Labour voters).  

‘Increasing economic discomfort and an underlying feeling that nothing is improving has seen this paradigm shift from a traditional left-right political spectrum to one defined by identity and the poles of liberalism and social conservatism. This has allowed multiple opposition parties to thrive and has seen a trend towards single-factor ideologically driven divisive (populist) political narratives.’  Benjamin Smith, Account Director  

The Conservatives appear to still be reeling from the 2024 defeat. At their 2025 party conference it was clear that they are using the luxury of opposition to undertake some practical, traditionally non-Conservative thinking in an effort to regain some credibility, rebuild their reputation as fiscally responsible and have a serious answer to the question of 'how to get the country back on track'.  

What for the future? In the short-term, the May 2026 local elections will provide a temperature check of the country and an opportunity to see if Reform's patchy 2025 performance in local councils will be punished or overlooked at the ballot box. 2026 will also judge the success of Reform's consultation of private-sector experts to write their policy positions - will this deliver them a broader policy platform?  

‘The growing momentum of the Green Party should not be ignored either, with Zack Polanski’s effective communication driving the party to stand right alongside the Conservatives and Labour at present.’ Yussif Hussein, Account Executive 

The big questions for 2029 are: Will we have any of the same party leaders and what parties will exist (will the small trickle of defecting Tory MPs to Reform burst the banks and turn into a flash flood)? We’re reluctant to propose answers to these. But politics is surprising (the most politically and policy-engaged have, in recent times, been the worst at predicting how the general public will vote). Increasingly perception and leadership count for more than reality and delivery. And the memory of the electorate is short; what defines the 2029 general election has likely not happened yet and the comings and goings of 2025 might be only a hazy memory.  

REFLECTIONS ON 2025 PARTY CONFERENCES  

This year’s party conference season and parliamentary events offered a signal that partnership working between charities, industry and Government is still central to the future of healthcare in the UK. At both Labour and Conservative Party Conferences, we were proud to deliver the Health Charity Showcase, bringing together charities, policymakers and ministers for purposeful dialogue on improving patient care.  

‘The engagement we saw, from Wes Streeting and his ministerial team recognising the vital role charities play in supporting patients, to Stuart Andrew MP emphasising his team’s ‘listening mode’ and the importance of charities in stress-testing emerging policy ideas, demonstrated a more collaborative tone across the political spectrum.’ Sophie Duffield, Consultant  

Reflecting on 2025, this event showed how organisations, including charities, of all sizes bridge gaps between Government and service delivery, something we saw first-hand thanks to the insightful conversations prompted by exhibitors. Looking ahead to 2026, the changing landscape of health policy, including the merger between NHS England and DHSC and the introduction of MSFs, present more opportunities for partnership working, with organisations not just consulted but actively co-designing policy.  

AND WHAT ABOUT THE MEDIA? 

In 2025, healthcare barely left the news cycle - from investment decisions being shelved to exciting breakthroughs hitting the market. The summer showed just how quickly a narrative can build; one company statement after another about the UK’s competitiveness, sparked by industry concerns, made it clear that media pressure still has the power to drive real policy movement. Wes Streeting hasn’t shied away from that dynamic, using the press to land some very direct messages about where he wants the sector to go.  

‘With big set-pieces already marked in for 2026, such as the Cancer Plan likely in February, we can expect more of the same from the health media - straight talking, punchy headlines and plenty of debate about the NHS’s long-term direction.’ Rhys Thompson, Associate Director  

By 2030, particularly given the political climate post-election, the conversation is likely to move beyond the battles of the day and focus on the bigger test: whether the UK can turn rhetoric on innovation, investment and reform into something genuinely transformative.