The wellbeing of the Manchester’s residents is in for a boost thanks to a new partnership being formed under the devolution of health and social care.
Health Innovation Manchester (HIM) will focus on harnessing the expertise of several organisations to help deliver superior healthcare, both in the region and nationwide.
Partners within the scheme include Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Greater Manchester Academic Health Science Network and Manchester Science Partnerships.
They will meet to sign a memorandum of understanding at Manchester Town Hall on Wednesday.
Director Clive Morris stated that whilst the region ‘already benefits from a strong history of research and innovation in health’, the partnership’s aim will be to take that further.
He said: “We know that it can take many years for a new innovation to reach routine adoption across the NHS, and that we don’t leverage our skills and capabilities across the whole of the region and across different diseases.
“Our ambition is to solve this by harnessing and building on the collective expertise we have, and working together to develop the very best approaches to address the health needs of Greater Manchester.
“By working collectively across healthcare providers, academia and industry, more closely than ever before, we can see the potential to accelerate the discovery and development of new innovations and transform the health of our population.”
The partnership has highlighted a number of priority areas for consideration, including increased testing on medicines and treatments to push them into mainstream usage swiftly, and personalised medicines.
Established healthcare priorities in Greater Manchester include cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, drug and alcohol misuse and obesity.
NHS chief executive Simon Stevens said: “Manchester has a proud history of world-leading breakthroughs in medicine and science and this approach will accelerate future gains for patients, hospitals, universities and employers across the region.”
