CLUSTER NEWS – September 2024
Our Annual HealthTech Day 2024
As in past years, we plan to host the HealthTech Day during Birmingham Tech Week. Who can forget last year’s amazing event? We hosted at Bruntwood’s new Enterprise Wharf (the first event to be held there) and drew an audience of over 150.
Join us again this year for an immersive exploration of cutting-edge health technologies that are shaping the future of healthcare. This health tech event, part of Birmingham Tech Week 2024, promises to explore the latest innovations in digital health, with a special focus on emerging technologies and community impact.
Birmingham Tech Week will run 21-25 October. Our HealthTech Day will run from 11.00am on Monday 21st October at STEAMhouse, Birmingham.
Seats are limited so hurry and register your Interest here.
CLUSTER’S EVENTS
At September’s Topical Tuesday George Kowalski of MiiCare Ltd presented on Transforming care services across the country: keeping older adults healthier at home. There is every reason to expect massive growth in HealthTech solutions, especially digital health next year, following the NHS review by Lord Darzi and the Government’s endorsement of technology as a key element in transforming the NHS and healthcare going forward.
We jointly hosted, with Innovation Alliance and Tech WM, a panel discussion and networking event around the theme of inclusive HealthTech on 17 September at I-centrum. We had an exceptionally strong panel of Jaymee Thakordas, Kumbi Kariwo and Dr. Joseph Alderman and the discussion was very high quality.
I attended three events in three days when I went to (1) the inaugural Midlands King’s Awards Network celebration of King’s Awards winners at University of Birmingham; (2) Innovate UK and WMCA joint action plan review one year on in Birmingham; and (3) the launch of the UK initiative RESILIENCE aiming to increase skills and talent in UK medicine manufacture held at Edgbaston Park Hotel, Birmingham. I continue to interview stakeholders as part of my development of a single Narrative for HealthTech in the West Midlands.
HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES SECTOR NEWS
Rosalind Franklin Laboratory
I have been trying to help Arshad Hussain of MIIR Ltd with his plans to take a lease of RFL and keep the premises in the Midlands’ HealthTech ecosystem.
Arshad (known to friends as Archie) is working remarkably well in attracting interest in businesses and organisations taking space at RFL. He has negotiated a draft deal with the landlord but he is now under intense pressure to “put up or shut up” and he is still looking for the kind of backing that will satisfy the landlord’s requirements (especially around being good for the rent in future years).
Archie has negotiated brilliantly so that for the first 5 years of a lease, the Landlord is willing to allow the rent payable to fluctuate with MIIR’s income. Then comes the crunch, when annual rent will become £2M a year. And one of the critical requirements of the Landlord now is that Archie can demonstrate revenue by then of at least three times the rent (i.e. £6M).
Archie tells me of an impressive case list of businesses and organisations who have expressed an interest in being involved. He just needs a helping hand to make it all come together.
I have argued for RFL to be retained as an important HealthTech asset for the Midlands and for the nation. For the Midlands, it can be a key part of our HealthTech ecosystem and an engine for growth in the sector. For the nation, it really ought to be centre stage in our resilience and emergency planning for future pandemics and other health threats with a similar potential to wreck population health and the nation’s economy.
I don’t know what more can be done to help, but if you, the reader, have any thought or suggestions, do please contact me urgently.
I am happy to give any support I can to this.
Path 2 Apprenticeships
During September, I launched our HealthTech Path 2 Apprenticeships campaign. By this campaign, we at the Cluster are seeking to persuade HealthTech employers to get involved.
Path 2 Apprenticeships is our region’s response to tackling youth unemployment in the area of the West Midlands covered by the Combined Authority.
Its main features are that it is:
- A multi-sector pre-apprenticeship programme
- Co-designed by employers
- Developing skills for future apprentices
- A £7.5m investment over 3 years
- Offering 3,300 places for young people.
Path 2 Apprenticeships is supported by a significant budget and addresses the observed fall in completing apprenticeships in recent years – there have been increased withdrawals midway through apprenticeships.
This programme creates another pathway into good jobs via apprenticeships which specifically addresses the risk factors of failure by preparing at-risk young persons ages 19-29 with pre-apprenticeship intensive training.
In providing intensive training, the programme develops the young person’s employability skills and helps individuals prepare for work.
There is no cost to the young person or employers at this stage and Path 2 Apprenticeships offers employers access to a cohort of apprenticeship-ready young people.
Please contact me if you are interested and want to know more.
KickStart – a new programme to support entrepreneurs
At the Cluster, we have secured some funding for ourselves and BEC to provide early stages support for entrepreneurs with ideas at the very early stages of business development. This may be a university spin-out, a start-up or a development connected with existing enterprise.
The cohort recruited this autumn will be supported with business and legal guidance and mentoring in order to advance their ideas towards market readiness.
Contact Emma, our Cluster Manager, at emma@wmhtc.co.uk to find out more.
Roadmap for HealthTech in the West Midlands
As regular readers will know, my work last year on developing a Vision for our region’s HealthTech led to the creation of a ROADMAP, comprising a Vision Statement agreed by all stakeholders and five specific Missions.
I have published the Roadmap on our website.
Only a few logos are displayed there because many of you have not sent me your logo for use in connection with this publication. Please send one over to me and I will gladly add your logo.
You are welcome to give a link to our website from your own website – and if you prefer, I can send you the pdf document for you to use the Roadmap as you think best.
As regards the single Narrative for HealthTech WM, I am currently in the interviews stage. I will let you know shortly about a roundtable event for discussion about what the Narrative should say and contain.
Birmingham-based Hydrogel Healthcare is growing
Hydrogel Healthcare Limited, a Birmingham company for over a decade, has announced a strategic partnership with multinational Medico Electrodes International Limited. This new, exclusive strategic partnership agreement gives Hydrogel access to two manufacturing facilities for rolls of hydrogels and in return will ramp up a supply of formulations exclusively for Medico. As a result, Hydrogel can now offer full service from R&D to final product.
It is possible, under the agreement, that Hydrogel will establish a R&D centre for advanced wound care in Birmingham. This should create 4 to 5 new jobs, mostly at graduate level.
Earlier this year, I witnessed a pitch by Hydrogel about an exciting alternative method for testing infection in urine and it is heartening to hear that Hydrogel has been selected for NIHR’s Adoption and Implementation Pilot this month to help towards getting this idea further refined and hopefully then commercialised for the NHS and other markets.
If you intend to go to MEDICA 2025 in Dusseldorf, Germany, look out for Hydrogel in Hall 9, A25.
WEST MIDLANDS REGION NEWS
Innovate UK innovation loans future economy: round 17
UK registered businesses can apply for loans for innovative projects with strong commercial potential to significantly improve the UK economy.
In this round, round 17, there are funds of £25M available.
This competition is open to single applications from micro, small or medium-sized enterprises (SME) registered in the UK.
The closing date for applications is 30 October.
Gap Fund for early-stage development of new healthcare interventions
The Medical Research Council is offering grants of between £50k and £300k for funding for eligible research organisations to generate critical data that builds confidence in the development strategy for a new or repurposed medicine, medical device, diagnostic test, or other medical intervention.
The concept for the new product should already be backed by other funding. The Developmental Pathway Gap Fund should be used to produce the crucial missing evidence (a gap in knowledge) needed to rapidly de-risk onward development or determine failure.
The Gap Fund sits between the smaller Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) funding and the more substantial Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (DPFS).
The closing date for applications is 13 November.
Mayor’s pledge to create 20,000 placements for young people
West Midlands Mayor, Richard Parker, has pledged to create 20,000 work and training opportunities in the region. At a roundtable with representatives of leading businesses in our region, he stressed the importance of opening their doors to provide meaningful placements and offer the training that prepares young people for the future.
Businesses who attended the round table included HSBC, Balfour Beatty, Balfour Beatty VINCI, Seven Trent PLC, JLR, Atkins Realis, Mitchells & Butlers, NHS, BBC, and Berkeley Group. All accepted the need for collective action and committed to more than just filling vacancies – it’s about creating employment opportunities for our young people and equipping them with the skills that will land them into a career with the industries of tomorrow.
New £8.1M training centre in Bilston
Thanks to a new £8.1 million investment, City of Wolverhampton College has opened a new training centre and welcomed students and apprentices for the start of the new academic year.
The purpose-built Advanced Technology & Automotive Centre at the Wellington Road campus, in Bilston, was completed in July and provides state-of-the art teaching and learning facilities for students and apprentices doing automotive and engineering qualifications.
The two-storey 2410 square metre centre boasts a range of industry-standard training facilities and equipment, including a 12-bay automotive workshop, drive-in electric vehicle lab containing simulated training boards, four-wheel laser alignment machine, and ADAS and Bosch diagnostic equipment, as well as engineering workshops, fabrication, CAD and welding suites, CNC milling machines, lathes, 3D printers, mechatronic t-rigs and a laser cutter. The centre also has a specialist IT suite equipped with the latest learning technology and six general classrooms, with energy efficient lighting and radiant panel heating throughout.
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Trade with the EU
Negotiating Uncertainty in UK-EU Relations: Past, Present, and Future is a new report from a think tank called European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE).
This report analyses UK-EU negotiations in the period of 2016 to 2024, to understand how we got here and what should be learnt on both sides. Part 2 looks at current relationships and the expectations under a new UK government and European Commission, and Part 3 takes a longer-term view of potential relationship models, and why these will still require extensive negotiation. Throughout, it seeks to reflect the view from both London and Brussels, from the point of view of an informed observer largely but not always on the sidelines of the negotiating process.
Coincidentally, I shall be in a webinar presenting to a HealthTech Trade Association in Eastern Germany in October where regulation and post-Brexit trade will be on the agenda for discussion.
Understanding Brexit impact on trade
If anyone is in doubt about the harmful effects of Brexit on trade with EU based businesses, a new report from Aston University quantifies the changes in trade volumes and the value lost to UK businesses.
Unbound: UK Trade Post Brexit is the title of the report, which reveals a 27% drop in UK exports to, and a 32% reduction in imports from, the EU, as well as a 33% decrease in the variety of products exported from the UK.
However, there are sectoral differences and it is worth looking more closely at the findings to see where there remain opportunities for businesses to benefit from EU trade.
The authors recommend three areas of focus: mitigation of the adverse effects; strategic reconfiguration of UK supply chains; and supporting firms in adapting to new trade barriers and enhancing productivity.
Health – Our Greatest Asset
Our Greatest Asset, the final report of the IPPR Commission on Health and Prosperity argues that better population health is critical to improving the UK’s economic performance.
Reporting on three years of analysis, qualitative work, commissioner debate and stakeholder engagement, it argues that better health could help meet the UK’s biggest, specific economic challenges. This report’s central contention is that better health will only be possible if we move from a sickness model of health policy to a health creation one.
The recommendations are policy heavy, especially in public health terms, and yet they add backing to Lord Darzi’s argument for a technological transformation in the way healthcare – and by extension public health population-based interventions – is delivered.
IPPR’s Commission on Health and Prosperity was co-chaired by Lord Darzi and Professor Dame Sally Davies, former chief medical officer for England.
Spotlight on…
Eureka
Our member, Eureka, was founded by Aditi Desai, NHS Consultant Gynaecologist and Obstetrician at Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals. Aditi is the inventor of a simple, intuitive, cost-effective solution to prevent surgical items being accidentally left behind after surgery and childbirth.
The key is to prevent avoidable harm through a system solution to the problem of retained swabs. Whilst ‘Never events’ are not common, they happen and they are ‘red flags’ of weak systems with inadequate design solutions.
iCount is a design solution which makes it easy to do the right thing.
The team have started working on an AI and computer vision- technology to integrate the solution with the digital space and Electronic Medical Records.
I saw Aditi speak about her innovation journey at a recent Innovate UK/WMCA event where she said her progress has been assisted by her first IUK grant and subsequently help from the Innovation Accelerator with IP protection and regulatory clearance.
I hope you enjoy reading my e-bulletin. Feel free to contact me personally with your feedback and suggestions for future activities at david@wmhtc.co.uk
Regards,
Executive Chair.
