Thursday, 3rd April – Friday, 4th April 2025
The Queens Hotel | City Square, Leeds
We plan to host a SurgTech conference every year which will be a two-day event bringing together industry, academics, clinical, funding bodies as well as members of the public working in the field of HealthTech. In previous years we have attracted over 200 delegates and it is our aim to improve on this.
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SurgTech 2025 aims to follow the MedTech innovation pipeline from clinical need to clinical adoption in the NHS, including keynote talks and interactive sessions from leading experts. This year we are organising the programme around the “3 shifts” in the NHS 10-year plan focusing on how MedTech can deliver: sickness to prevention; analogue to digital; hospital to community. We will have parallel sessions on: market access; clinical and economic evaluation; healthcare Inequalities; sustainability and NHS Net Zero; regulatory challenges and public and patient involvement.This exciting two-day event will bring together clinical academics, allied health professionals, researchers from the engineering and physical sciences, methodologists, public and patients, industry, and experts in market access, medical device regulation and commercialisation in a truly multi-disciplinary forum to build networks, explore opportunities for new collaborations.
Professor Phil Wood, Chief Executive Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust
Phil was appointed Chief Executive in February 2023. Prior to this he was Chief Medical Officer for the Trust and Deputy Chief Executive. He joined Leeds Teaching Hospitals in 2002 as a Consultant Immunologist and during his career Phil has worked in many operational and strategic roles including Clinical Director for services such as Pathology and Oncology and Medical Director for Strategy and Planning. He has been a champion and advocate of a continuous improvement approach to healthcare, working with the Virginia Mason Institute over the past decade to help develop the Trust’s improvement system, the Leeds Improvement Method.
Phil has held several regional roles including as Senior Responsible Officer for the initial Covid-19 vaccination programme in West Yorkshire. He is committed to partnership working across health and care systems, and currently co-chairs the West Yorkshire Cancer Alliance. A continued passionate advocate for the role of research and innovation in improving outcomes and reducing inequalities in healthcare, he is Chair of the Northeast & Yorkshire Genomic Medicine Service Board, a member of the NHS England National Genomics Board and a director and board member at the Northern Health Science Alliance.
An Honorary Professorship in Healthcare Leadership from the University of Leeds was awarded in November 2022, recognising Phil’s leadership contribution across education and training, research, innovation and improvement. He is the chair of the Leeds Academic Health Partnership and a member of the NHS IMPACT National Improvement Board.
Paul Tynan, Co-Founder of E2 Tech
Paul brings over 30 years of experience in technology and innovation. Before launching his own company, Paul acquired extensive experience in various technology roles within Tier 1 banks around the world, where he mastered his skills in developing and implementing cutting-edge solutions.
Under his leadership, E2Tech has become a key player in state-of-the-art technology solutions. The company is proud to be an implementation partner for TOMTM, Merlynn Intelligence Technologies’ Decisioning Digital Twin Technology, helping organizations enhance decision-making through AI-driven automation. Paul’s expertise and vision continue to position E2Tech at the forefront of technological advancements, delivering smarter, more efficient solutions to organisations worldwide.
Rebecca Randell is Professor of Digital Innovations in Healthcare at the University of Bradford and Director of the Centre for Digital Innovations in Health & Social Care.
The Centre was awarded £4.86m from Research England’s Expanding Excellence in England fund, recognising the excellence of its research and supporting its rapid expansion. Rebecca’s research is concerned with studying how healthcare professionals work to design technologies that support rather than disrupt their practice and studying how technology is used in real-world settings.
Rebecca has explored a range of healthcare environments and technologies, including robotic surgery, and is currently leading a work package for the NIHR-funded EVEREST-HN Programme Grant. This involves co-designing the patient- and clinician-facing components of a patient-reported symptom-based risk stratification system for suspected head and neck cancer referrals.
Gareth Evans, Commercial Strategy Director UK, Getinge UK & Ireland
Gareth has over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry, holding a diverse range of commercial and leadership roles across MedTech, Digital Health, and healthcare services. His career has been driven by a passion for innovation, operational efficiency, and strategic partnerships, leading cross-functional teams to deliver transformative healthcare solutions.
As Commercial Strategy Director at Getinge, Gareth is a key member of the UK & Ireland leadership team. Getinge is a global leader in medical technology, equipment, and digital healthcare solutions, working closely with healthcare providers to enhance patient care. From Sterile Services Departments (SSD) to Operating Theatres, Gareth helps leverage Getinge’s comprehensive portfolio, integrating digital systems and building value-driven partnerships that drive efficiency and improve outcomes to healthcare customers and patients.
Steve Bagshaw, Grand Challenge Lead, CPI
Steve is responsible for Digital Health at CPI, his expertise lies in the commercialisation of medical devices and their integration with digital technologies. Steve has overseen and delivered on a number of successful public and private programmes at CPI, helping new research ideas develop from prototype and through to commercial deployment. Clients include industries such as automotive, aerospace, defence, packaging and MedTech in particular. These projects involve working with companies of all sizes from both the public and private sector ranging from large device companies, innovative SMEs, academia and the NHS.
Previously Steve has held Business Development, Marketing and Strategy roles at CPI. Prior to joining CPI in 2008, Steve studied Business Studies at Northumbria University and holds an Executive MBA (with distinction) from Warwick Business School.
Paul Fisher, Director of Policy and Programmes at the British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA)
Responsible for BIVDA’s government affairs, policy development, and advocacy work. Before joining BIVDA, Paul was a senior Civil Servant with the UK Health Security Agency and the Department of Health and Social Care, specialising in the delivery of significant government health programmes. He led the LAMP testing workstream during the pandemic, including mobile processing units testing specialist use cases and the prison testing workstream.
At UKHSA, Paul led diagnostic programmes including the COVID Test Device Approval (CTDA) team regulating tests for SARS-COV-2, and a diagnostic response to a potential H5N1 pandemic. He was a qualified Incident Director in UKHSA’s role as a responder under the Civil Contingences Act.
Before joining the civil service, Paul worked in business transformation, assisting SMEs’ achieve growth or efficiency improvements, after over fifteen years in the emergency services.
Dr Kerrie Davies MBE FRCPath, Clinical Scientist, Infections
Kerrie Davies is an NIHR Clinical Lecturer, Principal Clinical Scientist, she was the Deputy Lead for Infection on the NIHR Leeds MedTech Invitro Diagnostics Cooperative (MIC), and is currently Co-lead for the Early Diagnosis and Personalised Care theme of the HealthTech Research Centre, and Deputy theme lead within the Infection and AMR theme of the NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), within the Healthcare Infections Research Group at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Honorary Associate Professor of diagnostic for infectious disease at University of Leeds; Senior Scientific Advisor to the Office of the Chief Scientific Officer at NHS England; Co-chair Empower Leeds Women, and Education lead for the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease study group committee for C. difficile.
During the pandemic she was seconded first into DHSC, and then UKHSA, to lead on validating COVID-19 diagnostic assays, then contributing to writing and setting up, then operationalising new regulatory legislation (Coronavirus Test Device Approval 2021) for COVID-19 test devices.
Kerrie has been researching in vitro diagnostics for >20 years, both nationally and internationally, including defining the optimal C. difficile testing algorithm which was adopted in the UK and recommended in European, American, and Australasian testing guidelines. She has a passion for the impact of research on patients and healthcare, and in particular supporting Healthcare Scientists in research careers and was awarded CSO Healthcare Scientist of the year in 2021 for her work on COVID-19 diagnostics.
Abigail Lishman, Head of Commercial Development UK & EU, DXCOVER
Dr Karen Kirkham, Partner and Chief Medical Officer · Deloitte
Rob Webster, Chief Executive NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board
Rob has been the lead Chief Executive for the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, an integrated care system (ICS), since March 2016. He became the Chief Executive of NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) in July 2022 when it became a statutory organisation as part of the Government’s new Health and Care Act. His focus is on collaboration across health, local government, the third sector and communities to improve outcomes for people in West Yorkshire.
Rob has had a number of Chief Executive roles, in a career that started in 1990. This includes being the Chief Executive of NHS Calderdale Primary Care Trust, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust and South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. He was the Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation between 2014 and 2016, representing all parts of the health sector. The first part of Rob’s career was spent in Whitehall, where he was an established Senior Civil Servant in the Department for Health and Care and in the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit at the Cabinet Office. He led on national programmes on primary care, productivity, NHS spending and the workforce and had a reputation for innovation and improvement.
Rob continues to contribute to several national programmes and networks including: chairing the NHS Confederation Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Reference Group; being an active membership of the NHS Assembly; NHS Professionals Strategic Advisory Board; the National Centre for Creative Health Advisory Group; Chair of the Strategic Advisory Group to the Rapid Service Evaluation Team; and co-chairing the Accountability and Oversight workstream of the 10-Year Health Plan.
Rob is a visiting Professor at Leeds Beckett University and was proud to be made a Fellow of the Queen’s Nursing Institute in 2014. In May 2016 Rob became an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners. In 2020 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his contribution to healthcare leadership and was awarded the HSJ’s Chief Executive of the Year Award in 2021 owing to his focus on inequality and workforce wellbeing. He is a proud Honorary Graduate of the University of Bradford which bestowed an honorary doctorate in health for services during the pandemic.
Rob believes that leadership can happen from every seat in the organisation, is based on a set of shared values and happens in systems.
David Lawson, Director of Medical Technology & Innovation DHSC
David Lawson is Director of Medical Technology & Innovation at the Department of Health and Social Care having commenced the role in October 2022. In this role, Mr Lawson is the Government policy lead for Medical Technology with responsibility for the implementation of the Government’s inaugural Medical Technology Strategy published February 2023. Key initiatives include the Design for Life, to promote circular economy; Value Based Procurement Methodology and associated MedTech Compass to support evidence based decision making and enable a Passporting System, to be adopted for MedTech procurement; NICE Multi-Tech Assessments of existing product categories; National Product Information Management System; National Outcomes and Registries Programme; National Equipment Tracking Information System, reform of the Part IX Drug Tariff which controls MedTech prescribed in the community.
David is also SRO for the Innovation Devices Access Pathway bringing together MHRA, NICE, NHSE to provide enhanced support for novel technology that meets an unmet need, and member of the Independent Advisory Committee (IAC) for the newly launched NIHR HealthTech Research Centres (HRCs) Network.
Professor Carl Thompson, Applied Health Research
Professor Thompson joined Leeds in 2015 from the University of York. His research portfolio reflects his interests in how professionals use technology and information in their judgements and choices and how to get health technologies working more effectively quickly. He established the first Anglo-Dutch MSc in Evidence Based Practice and led the Translating Research into Practice in Leeds and Bradford (TRiPLaB) theme in the first NIHR ARC for Yorkshire and Humber.
During the pandemic he led the NIHR’s Covid-19 Recovery and Learning (HTA-funded) CONTACT study of digital contact tracing in care homes, worked with the PROTECTCovid-19 core research study in care homes and the national CONDOR study of point of care testing in community settings.
Professor Thompson is an experienced NHS Trust Non-Executive Director and mentors NEDs faced with innovating in care environments safely. He provides scientific advice to Australian, Canadian, US and Dutch research funders. He has been part of research teams on more than £20m, published 3 books on Decision Making and Judgement and evaluation in healthcare professions; and has more than 130 peer reviewed articles on decision and implementation science, knowledge translation, evidence-based practice, research methods and, most recently, care homes and epidemiology. He is an academic partner in NICHE-Leeds (https://niche.leeds.ac.uk/) and helped secure Leeds recent entry into the NIHR School for Social Care Research.
Professor Andrew Clegg, Geriatric Medicine
Dr Jane Townson OBE, Chief Executive Homecare Association
Bryn Sage, Inhealthcare
Dr Neville Young, Director of Enterprise & Innovation Health Innovation Network Yorkshire and Humber
Dr Neville Young joined the Health Innovation Network Yorkshire & Humber in June 2016. He is responsible for supporting the adoption of high quality innovation that benefits patients and drives efficiencies in the NHS.
Nationally, Neville is currently an NIHR reviewer and sits on the NHS AI Lab Advisory group and is currently Vice Chair of the SBRI cancer panel.
Neville has previously been Chair of the Health Innovation Network Clinical Directors Forum and is involved in the Heath Innovation Network strategy development, working closely with NICE, ABHI and the ABPI to develop the Network’s position on real world evaluation. He also supports UK businesses who wish to export and works closely with Department of International Trade (DIT) and the regional Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
He has worked as an academic researcher, a drug trial manager, a consultant and as a director for a health tech start up.
He has a doctorate in Molecular Embryology from Kings College London.
As well as speakers panel members will include:
Analogue to Digital
Owen Johnson, Academic and Consultant in Health Informatics
Mr Ryan Mathew, Associate Professor at the University of Leeds and an Honorary Consultant Neurosurgeon at Leeds Teaching Hospitals.
PPIE Representative
Sickness to Prevention
Addie MacGregor, Sustainability Manager, Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI)
Prof Mehdi Tavakoli Knowledge Transfer Manager- NHS Infrastructure, MedTech and Therapies
PPIE Representative
Hospital to Community
Adam Peckham-Cooper, Consultant Emergency General Surgeon, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
PPIE Representative
Health Economics Session on SimSurg Model
David Meads, Professor of Health Economics and Director of the Academic Unit of Health Economics and Armando Vargas-Palacios, Senior Research Fellow, Academic Unit of Health Economics, University of Leeds
Identifying and addressing Health Inequalities Session
Dr Sunil Daga, Consultant Nephrologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Leeds and Abi Wilson, Clinical studies officer, Ethnic Minorities Research Inclusion Lead (EMRI)
Surgical Care Observatory Session,
Dr Helen Hughes, Chartered Occupational Psychologist, and Associate Professor in Organisational Psychology and Emma Findlay, Research Fellow at Leeds University Business School.
Device Access UK Ltd, Speed Up Adoption: Sell the Problem you solve, Not the Product
Michael Branagan-Harris, HealthTech Strategist, HealthTech Strategies Limited, John West Chief Commercial Officer
Join this high-impact panel and discover battle-tested strategies used by leading UK HealthTech companies to get your technology to patients faster and your technology purchased faster.
Harness the power of Hepisodes®, a groundbreaking interactive cloud pathway tool designed to connect you directly with senior NHS Hospital decision-makers. Unlike traditional routes through clinicians, theatre managers, and procurement, Hepisodes® aligns your technology with NHS pressures, slashing the time from first clinical engagement to purchase order.
You’ll gain insider knowledge on leveraging waiting list data, real-world NHS hospital activity, and business case insights—key elements to accelerate hospital buy-in, fast-track hospital approvals, and establish yourself as a long-term NHS partner to your customers .
Patient and Public Involvement
HRC and Hodgkinson McCambridge
Clinical Trials Evaluation
Professor Deborah Stocken, NIHR Research Professor in Statistics, and Julie Croft Head of Trail Management,Leeds Institute of Clinical Trials Research, University of Leeds
Regulatory challenges of developing digital technologies
HealthTech Incubator
Innovation for Healthcare Net Zero Accelerator Programme Launch
Peter Culmer Professor of Healthcare Engineering and Sustainability Lead for HRC, University of Leeds, Pd-m, Health Innovation Yorkshire and Humber
Avoiding AI’s Ethical Minefield
Rowan Hirst, AI Success Manager ASI Tech UK
MedTech Foundation
Manpreet Thakur
NHS Insights & Innovation Pop up
Richard Evans, Head Of Business Development and Innovation, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Moninder Bhogal, Business Development and Innovation Manager at NHS England.
The Commercialisation Journey: from a University and NHS Trust Perspective
Mattia Scalabrin / Blake Prime / Amy Contreras, Research & Innovation, University of Leeds
This breakout session will cover a brief introduction of how both the University of Leeds and the Innovation Pop-up at LTHT approach commercialisation. Presenters from each will work through a lived example. The session will conclude with an opportunity for Q+A.
Value Based Procurement
Briony Coulson, Senior Responsible Officer, Department of Health and Social Care (England)
Understanding NHS Adoption
Dr Neville Young, Director of Enterprise & Innovation Health Innovation Network Yorkshire and Humber
Delivered by Health Innovation Yorkshire and Humber, this session will provide an introduction to the adoption of health technology and innovation into the NHS. We’ll cover the importance of robust evidence and health economic data, along with how to plan implementation for successful adoption and spread.
Day 1
Ortotec Finland – delivered by
Clinical metal detector designed for detecting metal parts in tissue and bone
OstomySecure – delivered by Professor Manish Chand Consultant Colorectal and Robotic Surgeon, Professor of Surgery
New innovation in colorectal care for patients with a stoma – Professor Manish Chand
Hypervision Surgical – delivered by Cameron Dockerill, Clinical Development Scientist
Guiding the future of surgery using AI-powered hyperspectral imaging
Day 2
Intuitive Surgical
Stryker
Revolution zero
SimpliMedica
Platinum
Gold
Silver
Exhibitors
“We’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support over the past few years, it’s been a pleasure working with you“. Tom Burton, Current Health
“BVM found the presentations interesting and the interest from delegates of our technology was good but in terms of any business there is no business gain other than publicity to the wider people in healthcare.
The organisation of SurgTech was excellent and thorough. The team are incredibly helpful and hard working to make everything satisfactory for the delegates and exhibitors“. Jayesh Tailor, BVM Medical
“HoloCare was delighted to be part of the SurgTech conference and exhibition. The convivial setting made for great interaction between clinicians / surgeons and industry. The talks were informative and engaging and we would be keen to attend again.” Malcolm Luker, Commercial Director—HoloCare AS, Managing Director—HoloCare Ltd
“The SurgTech 2024 conference really targeted the clinical operational and procurement community. The presentations and workshops were focused on real-world experiences in work with new technologies for surgery. There was great interaction amongst suppliers as well which led to collaborative conversations with NHS and supplies as a community. We found it very rewarding and are planning on supporting the conference again for 2025. There is probably no higher endorsement than our position of wanting to come back for more” . Dr Tom Dawson , Founder, Revolution-ZERO
“The SurgTech 2024 conference was both insightful in the quality of the speakers and on how to navigate the SurgTech space including relating to regulatory steps and clinical trials. It was a delight to be amongst the Leeds area ecosystem (& beyond) and cement EarSwitch Ltd’s links here, and the networking has been invaluable. Having a stand and the benefit of presenting our EarMetrics-Oximeter to the audience, was a massive bonus; enabling us to spread our message of the importance of developing racially inclusive and more reliable oximetry to all“. Nick Gompertz, EarSwitch
“SurgTech 2024 brought together academics, industry leaders, and clinicians for some really engaging conversations. Sheila Boyes made everything easy with smooth and professional communication in the lead-up to the event, which made for a seamless and well-organized experience. I highly recommend it!” Jaye Sawai, Brandon Medical
“Pd-m we’re excited to be returning to the SurgTech conference, over the years it’s become a real fixture in our diary as it’s always a popular event, bringing together a broad spectrum of delegates from both industry as well as clinical and research areas. This year’s event was the best yet, with a large conference room as well as a busy exhibition space all in the heart of Leeds making travel very easy. The breakout sessions that were held in the afternoons were a real success and allowed delegates with a specific interest to do a deep dive into a topic and ask the experts questions, fostering lots of debate. As a Yorkshire based business we’re really proud to have an event of this size and nature right in our backyard, and we appreciate the work of the NIHR team to pull it all together!” Rich Shaw, Pd-m
“I would happily recommend SurgTech with its impressive makeup of early stage innovation technologies and the established ecosystem of funders, entrepreneurs and subject specialists to drive their development. Working with Sheila and the team on exhibition was exceptionally easy, both in terms of pre-meeting organisation and with lots of help at the event itself to ensure we were as successful as possible”. James Field, Advanced Medical Solutions
“SurgTech was an extremely well organised event providing us with the opportunity to liaise with clinicians showcasing our latest technology and innovations”. Karen Chilcott, GI Intervention & Oncology | Senior Territory Manager and Marketing Lead, Aquilant Ltd