Why Wearable Tech is the missing link in the NHS’s shift from analogue to digital

I’ve always been an early adopter of wearable tech. From the first Fitbit I clipped to my wrist, I could see the potential: not just for personal health tracking, but for transforming how we understand and manage wellbeing at scale. My years working in the healthcare insurance sector only cemented that belief. I still maintain that, one day, insurance premiums will be influenced by wearable data — points-based health banding could easily mirror how safe drivers earn discounts on their car insurance. And now, more than ever, I believe wearable tech is key to unlocking the NHS’s long-term plan, especially its shift from analogue to digital, and from treatment to prevention.

Wearable tech

We are standing at the crossroads of a healthcare revolution. And if we get this right, wearable tech could be the bridge that connects people to a healthier future and connects the NHS to a more sustainable model of care.

The NHS needs more than just digital records

The NHS 10 Year Plan rightly puts a strong emphasis on digital transformation. But let’s be honest, digitising health records and increasing use of NHS login apps, while necessary, won’t be enough. A true shift from analogue to digital must include the ways in which patients engage with their health in everyday life. It’s not just about better data storage, it’s about better data collection, access, and empowerment.

Wearables like smartwatches, fitness trackers, and biometric sensors offer real-time, continuous data that can feed directly into clinical decision-making, risk stratification, and personalised care planning. But more importantly, wearables can create a culture of prevention, not reaction.

Prevention, not cure

The NHS is creaking under the weight of demand. Most of its resource goes toward treating illnesses that, in many cases, could have been prevented: cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, respiratory conditions, and mental health issues. We’ve known this for decades, and yet our healthcare system is still designed to treat, not to prevent.

This is where wearable tech steps in.

Imagine a world where GPs have access to your baseline heart rate, sleep patterns, stress levels, glucose readings, and physical activity data over the past 12 months, before you even walk through the door. Imagine being alerted by your wearable when your stress markers spike or your blood oxygen dips. Imagine being nudged toward more movement, better sleep, or hydration long before you develop symptoms. That’s not science fiction. That’s today’s technology, we’re just not using it effectively in the NHS.

From Apple to the NHS: A collaboration waiting to happen

The truth is, big tech already holds the keys to much of this future. Apple, Google (through Fitbit), Samsung, Amazon (with Halo), and other health-tech disruptors have built powerful ecosystems capable of tracking everything from your heart rhythm to your posture. But the challenge is integration. NHS systems are not built to communicate with consumer-grade tech, and there’s a justified scepticism around data privacy, regulatory standards, and interoperability.

But that’s not a reason to turn away, it’s a reason to lean in.

Imagine what could be achieved if the NHS and big tech companies formed formal partnerships, not just to integrate data, but to co-develop wearables tailored for public health needs. Devices that are affordable (perhaps subsidised through NHS innovation funds), aligned with NICE standards, and embedded into patient pathways from the start.

Think Apple Watch: NHS Edition.

The NHS’s sheer scale, brand trust, and reach could help wearables reach demographics that tech companies often struggle to engage, older adults, lower-income communities, and ethnically diverse populations. In turn, the tech giants can bring design, functionality, and user experience excellence to what would otherwise be clunky, clinical devices.

It’s the perfect marriage of scale and innovation.

But first, we need to make Wearables cool

This is where my background in PR and communications comes in. It’s not enough to develop a device. You have to market the lifestyle.

When I was quoted in The Telegraph recently for an article on marketing healthcare as a consumer brand (read the article here), I talked about the need to position prevention as aspirational. Healthcare comms has long lagged behind other industries, too often functional, overly cautious, and wrapped in jargon. We need to change that.

If wearable tech is going to drive public health, we need to make it desirable. Just like Nike made running aspirational and Peloton made indoor cycling feel like a lifestyle, we need to make health data feel like power. Owning a wearable should feel like a badge of honour, something you show off in the office, talk about at dinner parties, and compete over with friends.

Public health campaigns must reposition prevention as something smart, savvy, and modern. Not a boring checklist, but a way to get ahead in life. We should see influencer partnerships, edgy advertising, social media trends, and viral challenges based around wearable data, step count leaderboards, sleep streaks, resting heart rate bragging rights.

That’s how we build behavioural change: not through finger-wagging, but through belonging and identity.

A PR opportunity for the NHS

The NHS should be the face of this revolution. Imagine if your local GP surgery ran a campaign around ‘Join the 10,000 Club’ — people committing to 10,000 steps a day, tracked by wearables and linked to health incentives. Or if NHS England launched a public challenge to get the nation sleeping better, in partnership with wearable providers and social media influencers.

The public’s trust in the NHS is still strong. That trust, combined with the aspirational edge of wearables, could generate enormous behaviour change. But only if we invest in comms that speak to the heart, not just the head.

Too often, NHS communications are reactive, responding to crises, misinformation, or changes in policy. But this is a chance to be proactive: to build a campaign around a vision of a healthier future. A future where every citizen becomes an active participant in their own wellbeing.

What about the critics?

Of course, there are legitimate concerns. Data privacy is a big one. We can’t ignore the risks of handing sensitive health information to commercial entities. But rather than avoiding the issue, we must address it head-on. NHS-backed wearables could operate under stricter data protocols, with patient consent frameworks embedded from day one. Transparency and user control will be key.

There’s also a valid debate about health inequality. Will wearables widen the gap between the digitally literate and those without access? Perhaps, but only if we let them. If wearables are co-funded by the NHS, distributed via social prescribers, and supported with community engagement, they can be a leveller rather than a divider.

A vision worth pursuing

Let me be clear: wearable tech won’t fix the NHS overnight. But it offers a tangible, scalable, and innovative route toward the two pillars of the NHS 10-Year Plan that matter most — digital transformation and preventive care.

The analogue-to-digital shift must be more than systems upgrades. It must be a cultural shift. Wearables offer a way to bring that shift into people’s daily lives. To move healthcare out of the surgery and into the home, the gym, the workplace, even the high street.

We have the tech. We have the need. We have the vision.

Now we need the courage to connect the dots — and the PR firepower to sell it.

Final Thought

As someone who’s spent time on both sides of the healthcare table — from insurance to frontline comms, from corporate to charity — my message is this: we can’t afford to wait. The cost of inaction is more than financial, it’s human.

Wearables are more than gadgets. They’re the interface between people and a future where health isn’t something you ‘get treated for’, it’s something you own.

And if the NHS partners with the right people, markets with the right tone, and builds trust with the right communities, we could look back in ten years and say: that’s when the shift really began.

About the author

Michael O’Connor is a partner at Grey Sergeant, specialising in PR, communications, and engagement across the healthcare and non-profit sectors. Through his consultancy Grey Sergeant, he helps primary care networks, GP surgeries, and healthcare organisations define their brand, strengthen their reputation, and communicate with clarity. For more information, contact michael.oconnor@greysergeant.com