Posted on: 12 August 2019
More than three million citizens across the Leeds City Region are set to benefit as senior leaders from the healthtech industry, the regional enterprise partnership, the NHS, local authorities, and five universities today announced a dynamic, new partnership to accelerate health technology innovation.
This bold commitment is the first of its kind in the region. Partners have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to drive forward new approaches in improving patient and population health and care through better and faster healthtech innovation.
The move also aims to radically speed up the region’s productivity and economic growth in the sector, which is seeing an unprecedented rise across the UK and globally.
As the UK’s largest economic region outside of London, the Leeds City Region already has a world-leading concentration of excellence in healthtech. It is home to:
- more than 250 healthtech businesses
- 200 digital and technology businesses operating in the health and care sector
- leading centres of academic excellence in research and innovation, and
- West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership, the third largest integrated health and care partnership in the country.
But, as set out in the Government’s Leeds City Region Science and Innovation Audit, stronger, cross-sector collaboration is vital to overcoming the barriers to growth.
This new partnership agreement will put in place the strong, coordinated leadership and support required to fully capitalise on what is a globally burgeoning market. In 2015, that market was estimated to be worth $371 billion and was forecast to grow to $529 billion by 20221.
That growth is being driven by factors such as growing and ageing populations, the rise in levels of obesity and chronic illness, technological developments and an increasing demand for medical devices.
The new MoU announced today was arranged and prepared by Leeds Academic Health Partnership (LAHP), one of the biggest partnerships of its kind in the UK.
Signatories to the MoU include:
- The Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI)
- West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership
- Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership
- Leeds Beckett University
- University of Bradford
- University of Huddersfield
- University of Leeds
- University of York
In signing the MoU, all partners have agreed to work together to drive economic growth and improve health outcomes and service efficiency by:
- finding personalised and community-based healthtech solutions that help the people of the Leeds City Region to live healthier lives for longer, particularly those living in identified priority neighbourhoods
- sharing insights into what citizens and patients in the Leeds City Region need, to determine what the priorities should be for health and care services and industry. Together, all partners will then work together on agreed priority themes that meet citizens’ needs
- driving inward investment in healthtech in the region to support economic growth which is inclusive, benefiting all communities.
Professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Leeds, John Fisher, who led the production of the Leeds City Region Science and Innovation Audit, said:
“This MoU signals an important step towards embracing the opportunities and realising the ambitions set out in the Government’s Industrial Strategy. It paves the way for us to reduce fragmentation, further harness expertise and capability and radically strengthen the Leeds City Region’s position as a leading global player in healthtech.
“Each partner will play their part in helping address and overcome the barriers to innovation. By working together in a new, focussed and coordinated way, we will accelerate radical improvements in patient care, health service efficiency and drive economic growth and productivity across the region and the UK.”
The MoU offers a new opportunity for partners to better understand the region’s health needs, and how they can support development, testing, and deployment of healthtech at scale.
Rob Webster, CEO Lead for West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership said:
"We are delighted to be part of this agreement. Innovation in health technology has the potential to transform services, improve health outcomes and most importantly save people’s lives. This Memorandum of Understanding is an important step in developing closer partnerships between health technology companies and health and care organisations across our area."
“It means that people will be able to benefit more quickly and systematically from technologies that can help them. It will also drive inward investment into our region and support our goals for inclusive growth.”
Partners will now form a leadership group to take this work forward. They will agree mutually beneficial themes on which to concentrate investment and efforts, and which reflect citizen and patient needs.
For media enquiries, please contact Leeds Academic Health Partnership Marketing and Communications Manager Ruth Coulthard,
Email: r.
Further quotes and information
Peter Ellingworth, CEO at ABHI, said: “We are pleased that this partnership will accelerate HealthTech innovation and adoption across the Leeds City Region. HealthTech advances the efficiency and affordability of healthcare, transforms pathways and improves outcomes for citizens. Work that supports this vital sector will be crucial to the implementation of Integrated Care Systems, which are central to delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan.”
Roger Marsh OBE, Chair of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and NP11 said: “Our region is home to one of the UK’s largest concentrations of innovative life science businesses, pioneering world-leading innovations and delivering significant GVA for the region. This unique partnership will provide an integrated network to accelerate innovations to meet the health needs of our communities. Our collaborative ecosystem means we offer inward investors the optimum UK location to develop healthtech innovations.”
Dr Duncan Sharp, Dean of the School of Clinical and Applied Sciences at Leeds Beckett University, said: “The MoU and underlying commitment for all partners to work collaboratively across the Leeds City Region offers a hugely exciting opportunity for the advancement of health technologies. The expertise this aligns, in a coordinated approach, offers a step-change in how we address the needs of our communities and health and care system. The arising synergy and critical mass has potential to make a genuine difference and here at Leeds Beckett we're delighted to be a part of it.”
Further notes to editors
Healthtech includes
- telehealthcare - technologies that enable patients to get support and assistance remotely
- mHealth: mobile phone apps and wearable devices
- health analytics: software that can handle and understand big data
- digitised health systems: technologies that can store digital health information and allow the exchange of digitised patient medical records.
The Leeds City Region healthtech sector has:
- the largest workforce in related industries outside of the South-East, including 22 per cent of the UK’s digital health jobs
- 250 healthtech businesses and 200 digital and technology businesses operating in the health and social care sector, underpinning its industrial strengths1
- universities which are leading centres of excellence in research and innovation, pulling in over £100m of funding collectively for healthtech research. This accounts for more than 8 per cent of all national Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funding in that sector1
- the highest number of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) higher education students across all local enterprise partnerships outside of London, producing 12,000 graduates year1 and
- the third largest integrated health and care partnership in the country. With a budget of more than £5 billion and a workforce of around 100,000, the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership serves a population of 2.6 million people.
Leeds Academic Health Partnership brings together leading expertise from three of the city’s universities, all Leeds’ NHS organisations and Leeds City Council. The Partnership identifies and implements innovation and attracts inward investment that responds to the challenges facing health and care, including reducing health inequalities across the city. Visit www.
West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership focuses on the health and care needs of local people across Bradford District and Craven; Calderdale, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield. The Partnership is made up of a number of organisations who work together to help 2.6 million people in the area including the NHS, councils, Healthwatch, voluntary and community organisations. Find out more at: wyhpartnership.co.uk
The Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI) supports the HealthTech community to save and enhance lives. ABHI is the UK’s leading industry association for health technology (HealthTech). ABHI supports the HealthTech community to save and enhance lives. Members, including both multinationals and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), supply products from syringes and wound dressings, to diagnostics and implants, surgical robots and digitally enhanced technologies. We represent the industry to stakeholders, such as the government, NHS and regulators. HealthTech plays a key role in supporting delivery of healthcare and is a significant contributor to the UK’s economic growth. HealthTech is now the largest employer in the broader Life Sciences sector, employing 127,400 people in 3,860 companies, with a combined turnover of £24bn. The industry has enjoyed growth of around 5% in recent years. ABHI’s 300 members account for approximately 80% of the sector by value.
The Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership works with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to help businesses in our region grow and become more productive. The Combined Authority works in partnership with local councils (Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield) and businesses to ensure that everyone in our region benefits from a strong, successful economy and a modern, accessible transport network. By championing the region’s interests nationally and internationally, we secure the investment to deliver better transport and housing, help businesses to grow and create jobs. We want our region to be recognised globally as a strong, successful economy where everyone can build great businesses, careers and lives. For more information visit www.
Leeds Beckett University transforms the lives and prospects of thousands of individuals and organisations every day in the city, the wider region, and beyond. The university’s mission is to ensure it uses its knowledge and resources to make a positive and decisive difference to people, communities and organisations. The practical nature of Leeds Beckett’s world-leading research makes a difference to people’s everyday lives, and much of the research is tackling the health issues of today - from helping to combat obesity, to improving care for those with dementia, and working to develop new forms of antibiotics. The university is investing £200m in its campuses with an ambitious programme of development over the next five years, focusing on sport and the creative industries, and holds silver status in the Teaching Excellence Framework for its high quality teaching. There are more than 28,000 students on Leeds Beckett University programmes in the UK and overseas and a diverse student population from 143 countries. Contributing £624m to the regional economy, the university is an integral part of the region, and is a major employer with more than 3,000 staff.
Founded in 1966, the University of Bradford is a world-leading technology university. It is a research-intensive institution, ranked in the top 50 in the UK for the quality of its research, with three quarters being classed as either world-leading or internationally excellent in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF). The University holds the Queen's Anniversary Prize for its pioneering work enabling people to live well with dementia. 92 per cent of our graduates went on to employment or further study within six months and the University is ranked top in the UK for undergraduate nursing and midwifery placement satisfaction. The University is also in the top 200 most international universities in the world (Times Higher Education). Known for its strong emphasis on employability skills and knowledge transfer work with businesses, the University is also a leader in sustainable development and education, and is the 8th greenest University in world, according to UI GreenMetric World University Rankings 2015
The University of Huddersfield has a growing reputation as an inspiring, innovative provider of higher education of international renown. Recognised as a leader in enterprise and innovation, the University has been the recipient of the Times Higher Education magazine’s awards for University of the Year, Entrepreneurial University of the Year and Outstanding Leadership and Management and also a recipient of a Queen’s Awards for Enterprise. In the 2015, the University achieved 5 star status from international ratings organisation QS Stars in the areas of teaching, internationalisation, employability, and for facilities and access. It is currently number one in England for the proportion of staff with teaching qualifications and recently became one of the few universities in the UK to be awarded the ‘Gold’ standard in the Government’s new Teaching Excellence Framework.
The University of Leeds is one of the largest higher education institutions in the UK, with more than 38,000 students from more than 150 different countries, and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. The University plays a significant role in the Turing, Rosalind Franklin and Royce Institutes. We are a top ten university for research and impact power in the UK, according to the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, and are in the top 100 of the QS World University Rankings 2019. The University was awarded a Gold rating by the Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework in 2017, recognising its ‘consistently outstanding’ teaching and learning provision. Twenty-six of our academics have been awarded National Teaching Fellowships – more than any other institution in England, Northern Ireland and Wales – reflecting the excellence of our teaching. www.
The University of Leeds’ Professor John Fisher has expertise in medical engineering, bioengineering, biomaterials, medical devices, biomechanics and regenerative medicine.