Bringing together the Trust’s clinical and health innovation expertise with J&J’s innovation capabilities, the partnership will – they say – ‘drive lasting improvements to health outcomes in Leeds and across the region, and prioritise a focus on addressing health inequalities’. At an event at the Palace of Westminster on 21 November to update Ministers and partners on progress to build a new hospital on the Leeds General Infirmary site under the New Hospital Programme, the Trust’s Chair and CEO, Dame Linda Pollard and Professor Phil Wood respectively, and Johnson & Johnson MedTech MD, UK, Hugo Breda, formally announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding. ‘Bringing together NHS and industry expertise to support a thriving health innovation ecosystem in Leeds’, the agreement will see the organisations collaborate on:
driving forward innovation, R&D, and new ‘medtech’, for the benefit of all patients, with a focus on improving health equality.
promoting skills, talent, and jobs in innovation.
delivering increased efficiency within the healthcare supply chain, including climate benefits.
Johnson & Johnson’s Hugo Breda added: “This is a significant announcement for healthcare in Leeds. Through this collaboration we can drive an increase in innovation for unmet healthcare needs, and equality in access to health services for the people of West Yorkshire. Our global R&D and manufacturing facility in Leeds has a significant history in healthcare, being the home of the origins of hip replacement surgery. Today, we have employees working across the spectrum of medical technology development – from 3D printing and robotic surgery to custom medical implant creation and innovative patient education systems. We are excited about utilising this expertise to drive our shared goals with the Leeds Trust.”
The announcement follows news that West Yorkshire is to be home to the country’s third Investment Zone, ‘boosting the city’s ambition to deliver innovation that creates a healthier, greener, and inclusive future for Leeds, the region, and across the globe’. The investment in digital and healthtech will accelerate plans for the Leeds Innovation Arc, ‘kickstarting the development of the Innovation Village on the Leeds General Infirmary site with the refurbishment of the Old Medical School to create a healthtech innovation hub’.
The development of the Innovation Village on the LGI site, as part of the city’s Innovation Arc, is expected to bring direct and wider economic benefits of up to £13 billion in net present value terms to the city, along with around 4,000 jobs and 520 new homes.