Friday, 03 May 2024
An exciting partnership between the University of Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham University Hospitals and the Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI) has brought together leading lights from across the industry as part of an ongoing partnership strengthening collaboration and innovation in the sector.
Aiming to bolster the healthcare technology sector, Nottingham became the fifth UK city to partner with the ABHI in 2022, providing access to university facilities, supporting national policy work and international engagement, and facilitating collaboration between ABHI member companies and stakeholders.
An event, hosted by the University of Nottingham, to strategically support the development of healthcare technologies and ensure they align with patient and NHS needs, took place on 2 May. This event aimed to accelerate the uptake and dissemination of research and innovation within the HealthTech sector, which plays a crucial role in healthcare delivery and contributes significantly to the UK’s economic growth. It also celebrated the successful translation of Nottingham’s world-class science and engineering research into technologies that deliver real benefits to people’s health.
Attended by over 70 delegates as well as several major UK HealthTech companies, the day included tours of the extensive range of world-class expertise, facilities and resources available through the Nottingham partners such as the Nottingham Clinical Research Facility, Trent Simulation and Clinical Skills Centre and the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre.
Professor Dan Clark OBE, Programme Director of Healthcare Technologies at the University of Nottingham, said: “Nottingham and the wider region are quickly becoming recognised as a HealthTech hub, with the East Midlands accounting for almost ten per cent of UK HealthTech employment, showing that not only is the area positioned as a dynamic centre for technological advancement, but it is also a hive of significant economic activity."
Boasting prestigious institutions, such as the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, as well as several collaborative NHS/academic research centres, and centres of clinical excellence, we have strong connections to the local NHS infrastructure and provide access to state-of-the-art facilities for testing and evaluating devices in real-world clinical settings.
Richard Phillips, ABHI; Prof John Hunt, NTU; Anthony May, NUH; Prof Dan Clark, UoN
Nottingham's partnership, initiated through the Universities for Nottingham initiative, forms part of the shared commitments under the Universities for Nottingham Civic Agreement. This collaboration between Nottingham’s two world-class universities and nine key anchor institutions outlines partners’ commitments to work across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire for the benefit of the local community, its people, and place.
Professor John Hunt, Academic Lead for Nottingham Trent University’s Medical Technologies Innovation Facility, added: “Health innovation is a strategic priority for NTU that provides the opportunity to connect the expertise and infrastructure of many of our Schools to deliver locally and then further nationally and internationally on health and care needs."
“We have been working really hard for a long time to come together as a city and region to deliver on future health and care needs to be in a position now to offer to accelerate the discovery and delivery of health and care advances and interventions by combining academia, NHS trusts and the commercial sector.”
Anthony May, Chief Executive of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Technology plays a huge part in modern healthcare and we know its impact and importance will continue to increase. Nottingham has a proud reputation for discovering, developing and implementing new technology for patient benefit, and Nottingham University Hospitals is delighted to be a part of this collaboration.”
ABHI has a series of partnerships with five key cities in England, including Nottingham, all designed to help stimulate HealthTech development and adoption at a local level, with the potential to be scaled nationally.
Richard Philips, Executive Director of Policy and Partnerships at ABHI, said: "This event not only showcased the region's growing reputation as a HealthTech hub, but also underscored the invaluable connections between our NHS partners, academia and HealthTech leaders.
“Through such collaborative efforts, we are enhancing the capacity to develop innovative healthcare technologies that directly address the needs of Nottingham’s population and paving the way for success to be scaled nationally. We look forward to building on this progress and continuing our joint efforts in transforming healthcare delivery through cutting-edge HealthTech research and development."
Notable speakers on the day included Anthony May OBE DL, CEO of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust; Professor Tom Rodden, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Research & Knowledge Exchange at the University of Nottingham; and Professor Richard Emes, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Research and International at Nottingham Trent University.
For more information about the Universities for Nottingham initiative, please click here.
Story credits
More information is available from Professor Dan Clark OBE, Programme Director of Healthcare Technologies at the University of Nottingham, at Dan.Clark@nottingham.ac.uk; or Julia Head, Media Relations Officer at the University of Nottingham, at julia.head @nottingham.ac.uk.
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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