Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will host the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) HealthTech Research Centre Network, following a £5m award that will allow it to provide coordination and leadership to local teams developing and evaluating innovative healthcare technology solutions.
From the start of last month, 14 HealthTech Research Centres (HRCs) were officially given a share of £42m to drive life-changing research into health and care technologies.
And from 1 September 2024, the network will help the 14 HRCs pull in the same direction, while also acting as a conduit for industry and national bodies like NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, as well as the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
“The HRC Network will play a crucial role in ensuring that the HRC scheme works cohesively and effectively, sharing learning internally and driving engagement with industry,” explained the NIHR’s scientific director for innovation, Professor Mike Lewis.
“As well as providing leadership and coordination across the range of HRC activities, it will champion the UK’s ability to develop, test and deliver exciting new technological solutions that benefit patients, the public and the health and care system, and attract support from the commercial sector.”
The network will extend across England, boasting a senior leadership team drawn from NHS trusts in Sheffield, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, and Devon.
“It’s a huge privilege to be the lead for the NIHR HRC Network,” said Professor Wendy Tindale, its director.
She added: “Working in partnership with all 14 HRCs will be key to delivering the Network’s ambitions in transforming UK HealthTech into a thriving ecosystem of industry, academia, NHS and stakeholders, collaborating to bring innovative health technologies more rapidly to patients.
“The range and synergistic experience of the HRCs is vast and there is a real opportunity for this new Network to create a step change in impact.”
National Health Executive has already hosted an online conference dedicated to digital health this month. Watch and listen to all the insight from a range of experts here.
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