The Healthtech Podcast

Hosted by Dr. James Somauroo

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Episodes

462

Latest episode

Jun 2026

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About the show

The Healthtech Podcast covers the latest in health and technology through interviews with disruptive healthtech startups and leaders. Whether you’re a patient, founder, investor or simply interested in healthtech, The Healthtech Podcast has it covered. 🌍 Listeners in over 150 countries. 🎙 New episode every week. 🗣 Hosted by Dr James Somauroo. www.thehealthtechpodcast.com | www.somx.health | www.jamessomauroo.com

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60 recent

June 10, 20261 hr 17 min

#450 : Prof Shafi Ahmed: What it takes to get a "yes" inside the NHS

This week, James is joined by Professor Shafi Ahmed — Consultant Surgeon at the Royal London Hospital, futurist, and author of Intelligent: The Evolution of AI Transforming Healthcare — for a candid look at what it actually takes to innovate inside a system designed to resist change. From streaming a live colectomy on Google Glass to 14,500 students in 118 countries, to walking away from 80% of his pay at the peak of his clinical career, Shafi shares the relationships, leadership and reflection that sit behind a decade of firsts in surgical innovation.Connect with Shafi: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/professorshafiahmed Learn more about Shafi's work and book Intelligent: https://www.profshafi.comApply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.com This podcast was brought to you by SomX.

June 3, 20261 hr 4 min

#449: 9.2 Million People Can't Sleep... and the NHS Isn't Ready | Dr Tom Chambers, Theta Sleep

This week, James is joined by Dr Tom Chambers, anaesthetist and Co-founder & Chief Medical Officer of Theta Sleep, to unpack why an estimated 9.2 million people in the UK are living with undiagnosed sleep apnoea. They get into why sleep medicine is so fragmented, why CPAP has an image problem, and how shifting diagnosis and treatment into the home could fix a supply-and-demand crisis the NHS isn't built for. A candid look at building a clinical business while still working as an NHS doctor.Connect with Tom: https://www.linkedin.com/in/-tomchambers-/Learn more about Theta Sleep: https://www.thetasleep.comApply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.comSubscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.comGet in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.comThis podcast was brought to you by SomX.

May 27, 20261 hr 14 min

#448 We need £2M to rebuild women's health from scratch

This week, James is joined by Dr Sujitha Selvarajah, co-founder of Hesta Health, who recently closed a £2M pre-seed round to rebuild postnatal care from the ground up. They get into why most of the women's health gap has nothing to do with reproductive health, why new mothers are abandoned at the moment their care needs spike, and what it actually takes to build healthcare that's both clinically excellent and humane.Connect with Sujitha: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsujitha/Learn more: https://www.hestahealth.com/Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.comSubscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.comGet in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.com

May 20, 20261 hr 2 min

#447: Can You Build Europe's Biggest Clinic in Just Five Years?

In this episode, James is joined by Ranjan Singh, who built HealthHero by acquiring six companies in nine months during lockdown. Now covering 35 million patients across four countries and delivering nearly five million consultations a year, it's Europe's largest digital clinic, with three consecutive outstanding CQC ratings to back up the scale. In this episode, he talks James through the acquisition-led playbook, a care coordination service that cut A&E admissions by 85%, and what an AI-first health system actually looks like when you're operating at this level.Connect with Ranjan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ranjan-singh-6204a3/ Learn more about HealthHero: https://www.healthhero.comApply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.comThis podcast was brought to you by SomX.

May 13, 20261 hr 7 min

#446: Is AI giving clinicians empathy back?

This week, James is joined by Dr Kishan Rees, Senior Director for Global Video & Digital Content Strategy at Bayer, to unpack why healthcare's communication problem is now its biggest patient-safety problem. They get into medical misinformation, why patients are turning to AI chatbots over clinicians, and what pharma can learn from broadcast journalism.Connect with Kishan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkishanrees/Learn more about Bayer: https://www.bayer.comApply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.comThis podcast was brought to you by SomX.

May 6, 20261 hr 11 min

#445: Why is your wearable shaming you?

This week, James is joined by Dr Tiril Elstad, medical doctor, yoga teacher, and founder and CEO of Endor Global, to explore why chronic stress may be our generation's biggest health risk - and why most wearables are making the problem worse. They get into the science of heart rate variability, the gap between data and actual behaviour change, and why the real opportunity in preventive health lies in reaching the middle 75%, not the biohacking elite.Connect with Tiril: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiril-elstad-1a547736/Learn more about Endor Global: https://www.endor.global/ Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.comSubscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.comGet in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.comThis podcast was brought to you by SomX.

April 29, 202652 min

#444: What does safe, clinical AI for mental health look like?

This week, James is joined by Dr Clare Palmer, Director of Evidence Generation at ieso, to explore what happens when AI is purpose-built for mental health care - and why that's worlds apart from people typing their problems into ChatGPT. They discuss ieso's safety-constrained AI architecture, the striking fact that only half of people with depression or anxiety recover, and how agentic AI systems could move us towards precision mental health care at scale.Connect with Clare: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clare-palmer-phd-b752795a/Learn more about ieso: https://www.ieso.ai/ Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.comSubscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.comGet in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.comThis podcast was brought to you by SomX.

April 22, 20261 hr 6 min

#443: The NHS has trust. AI doesn't. Now what?

This week, James is joined by Ahmed Binesmael, Senior Improvement Analyst at the Health Foundation, to dig into what the British public actually thinks about AI in healthcare - and why the people most likely to benefit from healthtech are often the most sceptical of it. They explore the Health Foundation's latest survey data on trust, the NHS app's "doctor in your pocket" function, and why meaningful public engagement is the missing piece in the UK's fragmented AI strategy.Connect with Ahmed: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmed-binesmael-025b07225Learn more about The Health Foundation: https://www.health.org.ukApply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.comSubscribe to Healthtech Pigeon 🐦: www.healthtechpigeon.comGet in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.comThis podcast was brought to you by SomX.

April 15, 20261 hr 16 min

#442: Can ultrasound + AI predict premature births?

In this episode, James is joined by Robert Bunn, Founder and President of Ultrasound AI, who shares an extraordinary story - from multiple failed startups and personal tragedy to building an AI that can predict actual delivery dates from standard ultrasound images. With a De Novo FDA clearance now in hand, Robert explains how the technology works, what the AI discovered that clinicians couldn't see, and why he's committed to making it available to every woman on earth regardless of ability to pay.Connect with Robert: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertbunn/Learn more about Ultrasound AI: https://www.ultrasound.aiApply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.comSubscribe to Healthtech Pigeon : www.healthtechpigeon.comGet in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.comThis podcast was brought to you by SomX.

April 8, 20261 hr 1 min

#441: Why Are So Many NHS Doctors Leaving for Healthtech?

This week, James is joined by Dr Yath Prem, Medical Advisor at Flo Health and clinical product specialist, to talk about the growing wave of NHS doctors moving into healthtech - what's driving it, whether content creators are encouraging too many to leave, and what clinical product actually means in practice. They also dig into wearables, AI health assistants, and whether healthtech is genuinely solving problems or just adding to middle-class anxiety.Connect with Yath: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yathprem/Learn more about Flo Health: https://flo.health/Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.comSubscribe to Healthtech Pigeon : www.healthtechpigeon.comGet in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.comThis podcast was brought to you by SomX.