A partnership between Chelmsford City Council, Harlow District Council, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, and Anglia Ruskin University, is predicted to grow the UK medical technology sector by £1.2bn and generate approximately 12,500 jobs via the creation of a new three-site ‘MedTech’ campus in Essex, where organisations ranging from start-ups to ‘large corporates’ will be able to develop and perfect new medical technology.
The Anglia Ruskin MedTech Campus will, the project partners say, ‘provide one of the world’s largest health innovation spaces for companies of all sizes, with the aim of establishing the UK as a global force in a sector worth £170 billion per year’. Around 120 acres of land has been identified at sites in Chelmsford, Harlow, and Southend-on-Sea, to accommodate the 1.7 million square feet of floor space required.
The new ‘partnership’ was officially launched at the House of Commons on 22 May by Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department of Health, Earl Howe. Specialising in ‘near-market solutions for products and services’, including those designed to improve the healthcare built environment, the ‘cluster of expertise’ will, the project partners say, ‘be of enormous benefit to healthcare providers and commissioners’, the Anglia Ruskin MedTech Campus has already secured support from ‘a number of key stakeholders in industry, local and central government, and the NHS’.
As the lead academic partner, Anglia Ruskin University will “facilitate access to a range of relevant expertise, sector-dedicated research, specialist consultancy staff, and testing and clinical trials capabilities’, while the local authorities will use their land use, economic development, and ‘community wellbeing powers ‘to engage the development industry and attract inward investment’.”
A business network will act as a catalyst for innovation, supporting the commercial exploitation of ideas through a portfolio of services offered domestically and internationally.
Anglia Ruskin University is home to the Postgraduate Medical Institute – a research centre actively supported by 22 regional health and social care partners – and over 30,000 students, 8,000 of whom are studying subjects relevant to the medical technology sector.
Professor Michael Thorne, Anglia Ruskin’s Vice-Chancellor, said: “Our vision for the Anglia Ruskin MedTech Campus is as a globally leading centre for medical innovation, building on our world-leading research in subjects allied to medicine, and the solid partnerships we have built up over the years with the healthcare sector and with industry.”
Earl Howe added: “The UK has a proud history of invention and innovation. The NHS is the world’s largest and longest-established national healthcare system. In partnership with the UK's university base, it has been at the forefront of many advances in medical science in its 63-year history. However, translating these discoveries and innovations into globally successful products and services has too often been achieved abroad.
“With demands on healthcare systems increasing, now, more than ever, adoption and widespread uptake of medical innovations across our healthcare system is critical to realising the benefits from the latest advances in medical technology and clinical practice. Innovation is the only way to delivering a sustainable healthcare system for future generations.”
