One in ten people need surgery each year, but waiting times are at an all-time high with 7.2 million people awaiting routine treatment. This means people are living with prolonged symptoms, added anxiety and employment issues, in addition to paying for additional care. This affects the quality of life for patients, carers, and their families.
Demand for hospital care is limited by the availability of acute care beds with over 13,000 patients occupying beds (one seventh of total NHS bed capacity) who are medically fit but do not have access to suitable community and social care support. Technology can help to address these problems by making surgical care pathways more efficient. But uptake of technologies into routine care is slow with only a small number making it and benefitting patients.
We are based in an area of the country with a strong regional HealthTech cluster linked to the West Yorkshire HealthTech strategy. This will allow fast access to knowledge and expertise to overcome barriers that slow uptake of new technologies and ideas into the NHS. We will provide a supportive and inclusive environment with opportunities for multidisciplinary teams to work together.
Patient and public involvement and engagement will be part of all our activities to make sure our research is relevant to all patients. We will make sure equality, diversity and inclusion are the at the centre of our strategy so that the use of technology works for every patient.
Partnerships
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT) and University of Leeds (UoL) are ideally placed to host this HealthTech Research Centre in Accelerated Surgical Care. NIHR investment in the former two MICs (In Vitro Diagnostics and Surgical Technologies Co-operatives) has enabled us to grow unequalled capability and capacity in evaluating surgical diagnostics and devices, creating a national translational network with strong international profile.
Founded on this solid platform, the HealthTech Research Centre will grow activity through £20m investment in the Leeds NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (including Surgical Technologies and AMR & Infection themes), and £8m in NIHR Clinical Research Facility, and work closely with other NIHR infrastructure (Surgical Oncology TRC, Surgery and Peri-operative Care TRC, NIHR ASTI Incubator, NIHR CTU).
Recognising that surgical innovation is not “risk free”, the HRC will work with the NIHR Y&H Patient Safety Research Collaboration to ensure accelerated translation is tempered by the need for robust patient safety. Our £650m Hospital of the Future, the first UK “digital hospital by design”, and its industry-facing Innovation Pop-up open further opportunities.
The HRC will be integrated into a dynamic regional healthcare cluster coordinated citywide through Leeds Academic Health Partnerships and regionally through West Yorkshire HealthTech Cluster and Yorkshire and Humber Health Innovation Network. It will link to national HealthTech infrastructure through Medilink, ABHI, BIVDA, and the HealthTech Alliance.
Accepting that no single NHS/University partnership possesses the capability to navigate the complexities of the whole MedTech innovation pipeline, we will bring in expertise from other organisations as required.
The initiative builds on the work of the NIHR Colorectal Therapies Healthcare Technology Co-operative (2013 – 2017) and the NIHR Surgical MedTech Co-operative (2018 – 2023)
