
20 Aug 2021
Leeds Academic Health Partnership has joined the world’s largest entrepreneurial training programme in healthcare, helping to transform patient care across the NHS.
As one of 30 partners involved in the national Clinical Entrepreneur Programme, Leeds Academic Health Partnership will play a part in nurturing healthcare innovators.
Through the programme, it will help innovators gain the commercial skills, knowledge and experience to make their ideas become a reality.
Founded in 2016, the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme recruited more than 500 clinical entrepreneurs in its first four years.
Between them, 247 life science start-up companies have been created, over £270 million of funding has been raised through investment, largely from the private sector, and more than 30 million patients and users have benefited from the innovations.
Examples of innovations through the programme include smartphone otoscopes to look inside the ear, and drones designed to carry medical supplies between NHS sites.
The programme has seen 134 clinicians returning to work in the NHS (alongside pursuing their entrepreneurial aspirations), and the programme now supports more than four per cent of the life science companies in the UK.
The NHS England and NHS Improvement programme has chosen Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) to lead the entrepreneurship training. The University heads a coalition of more than 60 cross sector partners to deliver the programme and create economic growth in the life science sector.
Professor Tony Young, National Clinical Lead for Innovation at NHS England and Director of Medical Innovation at ARU, said: “The Clinical Entrepreneur Programme is going from strength to strength, which is great news for the NHS, for those it cares for and for the UK life sciences sector.
“We’re pleased to welcome Leeds Academic Health Partnership to our growing list of programme partners and look forward to working more closely with aspiring innovators in Leeds and the Leeds City Region.”
Dr Liz Mear, Managing Director at Leeds Academic Health Partnership, said: “We’re delighted to be part of this prestigious programme on behalf of our partners. We will work together to create a pipeline of innovators from across our region and support them in applying to become clinical entrepreneurs.
“This programme offers them a unique opportunity to develop their ideas and skills and to shape exciting new ways to transform and enhance healthcare for citizens.”
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