Several leading UK clinicians and pioneering medical companies - along with representatives from the West Midlands, including WMAHSN - are visiting California this week in a bid to forge stronger relationships across the state. The mission, which is supported by the UK government, aims to strengthen export links between the UK and California and create demand for UK-designed healthcare technologies.
Read "UK medtech companies forging relationships with California"
We are looking forward once again to showcasing the Patient Safety Collaborative at the annual Patient First conference on 21 and 22 November. Helen Hunt, Assistant Programme Manager, will join Tracie Wilson, Quality Improvement Nurse and Caroline Maries–Tillott, Quality Improvement Lead, of the West Midlands Patient Safety Collaborative, to showcase the SPACE: Safer Provision and Caring Excellence programme.
Read "Work in the West Midlands showcased at Patient First event"
The West Midlands Local Eye Health Network has developed a new video, with the support of Eye Health UK, to help people look after their eyes. The video shows that simply attending an eye test every two years with a local optician can help spot a range of conditions, from deteriorating vision to glaucoma to diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension, leading causes of heart conditions and strokes.
Read "New video urges people to look after their vision ahead of Eye Health Week"
The first ever festival to celebrate Coventry’s older residents, featuring exercise classes, dance workshops, expert talks and discussions and supported by WMAHSN, is to take place next month. The Coventry Life Festival is part of a campaign to make Coventry an age-friendly city and is being held at Fargo Village, on Far Gosford Street, on 1 and 2 October.
The head of NHS England, Simon Stevens, yesterday set out an ambitious vision for the NHS as it approaches its landmark 70th anniversary – calling on health and care leaders to unleash the game-changing potential of innovation for both patients and taxpayers. Speaking at the Expo conference in Manchester, Mr Stevens unveiled new plans to free up funds for the latest world class treatments by slashing hundreds of millions from the nations drugs bill and announce that new and cutting edge treatments will be routinely available for the first time.
SBRI Healthcare launched its annual review at NHS Expo this week. The review sets out how the programme has helped to bring new technology to the NHS and addressed some of the big healthcare challenges we are facing. In 2016/17, SBRI Healthcare supported eight new clinically-led competitions and awarded £10.9m to develop new technologies.
A delegation of Indian biotech company leaders visited Birmingham recently to see the life sciences cluster, where the city’s world-leading research is translated into new medical therapies. The delegation travelled to Birmingham on 7 and 8 September as part of bioConclave 2017, an annual gathering of Indian life science business leaders, who come to the UK to explore investment and partnership opportunities.
Read "Indian biotech leaders visit Birmingham for life science facilities briefing"
Life Science City - an initiative from Business Birmingham - is heralding the unique opportunities, facilities and expertise of Birmingham with a new video. To celebrate the area's successes and advantages, Life Science City has launched a video, which features Tony David, WMAHSN's Commercial Director.
Read "Birmingham's Life Science City initiative launches new video featuring WMAHSN"
Many organisations across the healthcare spectrum contribute to the development and implementation of in vitro diagnostics. To explore this, the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) West Midlands recently sponsored a symposium organised by the West Midlands Laboratory Medicine Research Group. Lucy Chatwin, Business Manager at WMAHSN, and Sean James, Genomics Ambassador for the West Midlands Genomic Medicine Centre, were among the speakers.
Read "WMAHSN staff address clinical research symposium on in vitro diagnostic tests "
'Whole Genome Sequencing: Decoding the Language of Life and Health' is a free online course starting on Monday 11 September and running across three weeks, with two/three hours of flexible learning each week. Featuring experts, healthcare professionals and patients, the course explores the way in which genomes are sequenced and how this technology is being harnessed for the good of patients and their families.
Read "Learn more about whole genome sequencing with free online course"
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) has successfully been awarded funding to establish a co-operative, bringing together patients, clinicians, researchers, commissioners and industry to develop new medical technologies and provide evidence on commercially-supplied in vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests.
Read "Birmingham hospital trust gains funding for new medical technology co-operative"
Birmingham’s Serendip Smart City Incubator has welcomed two new social enterprises, with Altruist Enterprises and Inside Outcomes becoming the latest start-ups to join the Incubator’s Digital Health Quarter. Based at Innovation Birmingham Campus' iCentrum building, the Serendip Smart City Incubator programme provides market access and expertise for digital businesses, with the WMAHSN the partner in the Digital Health Quarter.
A local company which has demonstrated the benefits of getting older people to take more exercise has won an award from WMAHSN's Long Term Conditions Network. Following judging by an expert panel, Move it or Lose it was named as the winning initiative. Following a successful pilot, the company is now helping patients with COPD across 47 GP practices in the Birmingham CrossCity Clinical Commissioning Group area.
Read "Move it or Lose it scoops quality improvement prize for work with long term conditions"