Posted on: 31 January 2025
Last week (Thursday 23 January), we were delighted to welcome Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s National Medical Director, to Yorkshire and the Humber to explore how our region is at the forefront of health innovation.
The Leeds City Region alone accounts for 22% of the UKs digital health technology jobs. Our region is home to state-of-the-art facilities such as Nexus at University of Leeds, the Advanced Well Being Research Centre on the Olympic Legacy Park in Sheffield, the new National Health Innovation Campus currently being developed in Huddersfield and C4DI in Hull. These infrastructures are part of a vibrant innovation ecosystem driving better health outcomes.
Sir Stephen began his day at Nexus where he met with innovators and regional leaders to discuss how we can work together to accelerate the implementation of innovation adoption in the NHS to benefit more patients. Collaboration between innovators and NHS providers is crucial for ensuring healthcare innovations meet the needs of our diverse communities. While our region boasts strong partnerships and networks, navigating this complexity can be challenging for innovators.
Innovators shared their experiences including:
Maddie Julian, Founder and CEO of DigiBete, who shared her journey working with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to implement an app empowering young people and their carers to better manage Type 1 diabetes.
Peili Vision, a Finnish digital health company, which chose Leeds for their first UK office. Their web-based tool EFSim helps to detect early signs of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), helping families access support faster.
James Davis and Amanda Sparkes, Co-Founders of Inicio Health, discussed the value of digital health accelerator programmes like our Propel@YH to help innovators fast-track the adoption of their solutions, build relationships with key stakeholders and bring promising innovations into our region and into the NHS.
Paul Johnson, Co-Founder and CEO of Radar Healthcare, reflected on his experience of working with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and how collaboration is essential to support innovators entering the UK market.
In the afternoon Sir Stephen visited Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust to learn how digital innovation and AI can help transform patient care from robotic surgery to telemedicine in dermatology. 
Sir Stephen took the afternoon to meet teams and see innovation in clinical practice at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary led by Neeraj Bhasin, Executive Medical Director, and Graham Walsh, Medical Director at Health Innovation Yorkshire and Humber.
Neeraj Bhasin said: “Our teams are fantastic at identifying and embracing innovative practice for the benefit of our patients. It’s wonderful to be able to showcase this work on a national level and demonstrate how, alongside the clinical pressures, the team continue to drive their services forward to ensure we strive to deliver the most up to date care to our patients. Thank you to everyone involved.”
Graham Walsh added: “My role at Health Innovation Yorkshire and Humber involves bringing new ideas and innovation in clinical practice to the forefront. This was a fantastic opportunity to show what we’re doing as Trust and how we are using it to improve the health and experience of our patients. We help to get the right innovations where they are needed.”
Yorkshire and the Humber is proving to be a leader in health innovation, balancing cutting-edge technology with a focus on collaboration to ensure its benefits reach NHS patients across the country.