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Public Tech (Part 5): Why chronic sickness is inevitable without the “PILL”
The famous, slightly tired, quip about the NHS goes that it has “more pilots than British airways”.
Our National Health Service is a vast, creaking organisation in which adoption of the right kind of innovation could bring enormous benefits for us all.
Maddeningly, a huge number of life-changing technologies stall in the pilot stage, with the lead time for adoption currently standing at about 10 years (or so I have been told numerous times).
This means by the time such inventions are actually deployed they risk being out of date. More likely, most of the ventures that exist to distribute those innovations will have gone out of business.
As I have described in the previous four blogs, often this is down to a combination of risk aversion, a market which is loaded against startups and procurement processes that don’t assess everything that really matters.
Hello, I’m James Batchelor MBE
Expert on technology, entrepreneurship and digitisation for the ageing population - campaigner to Prevent Undiscovered Deaths - and inventor of the 'I am okay' button
My name is James Batchelor and every day I strive to discover new ways to use Technology, Leadership and Change to help organisations grow and also make the world a better place too.
I want everybody to understand this potential. That’s why I work as a mentor for other founders, entrepreneurs and passionate people. And, that’s why I am sharing my own insights and those of other brilliant people with you here.
I make regular speaker appearances, talking about themes including entrepreneurship, being a founder and the use of technology to help older and vulnerable people. I am also available to take part in media and expert-panel interviews on these subjects.
In 2004 I invented the ‘I am okay’ button (which we have evolved in to OKEachDay®) and various other processes to improve contact for older and higher needs people. This along with imitations inspired by it, has gone on to protect and improve contact for hundreds of thousands of people all over the UK and beyond.
I am also the founder of Alertacall – a ‘Queen’s Award’ winning company that helps tens of thousands of people feel safe, connected and informed whilst also combating loneliness and isolation.
I have also worked with a number of charities, including as Trustee of The Silver Line; a British charity helpline for older people founded by Dame Esther Rantzen.
In 2025 I was honoured to be made MBE by King Charles on behalf of the UK Government for ‘Services to Technology For Older People’.
My work and my life has one simple philosophy: Live Well, Give Back.
