US medical firm teams up with Leeds to transform healthcare
LEEDS has joined forces with major US-based supplier of healthcare solutions Alere, as the city region looks to position itself as the UK’s leading centre for health and innovation.
Alere has established a collaboration framework, thought to be the first of its kind in the UK, with key health and social care services providers in Leeds.
In July, TheBusinessDesk.com announced that the medtech company was on the brink of choosing Leeds, within our High Growth Markets supplement. At the time, it was revealed that phase one would see the company invest £1m in an eight month informatics pilot, after which it would go straight to market and then scale it up to the UK, potentially bring a manufacturing plant here with a new build and more jobs following with a phased investment approach over five years.
The framework, which includes GPs and hospitals, will determine the benefits of leveraging existing information technology assets in use across the Leeds area and ascertain if they can be enhanced through the use of Alere’s healthcare platform. Alere, which is headquartered in Massachusetts, intends to site its operations to support this project in Leeds.
New clinical and technology positions in local clinics and hospitals could be created and if the current phase is successful, wider adoption of the new system and potentially more cash from direct investment and collaboration could lead to hundreds of new jobs in Leeds over the next two years.
The partnership has been set up to progress the establishment of a Health Information Exchange in the city to support the existing work on the delivery of a single electronic health record that all NHS services could use.The partners expect to demonstrate how sophisticated technologies can create the clinical excellence and financial outcomes needed to transform the region’s and country’s health system.
Leeds and Partners has been coordinating the establishment of this framework and said the effort will not only improve service, increase jobs and investment in Leeds, but following a successful rollout, also has the potential to transform healthcare across the UK and beyond.
The collaborative framework will support the work of the Leeds Innovation Health Hub (LIHH), which is chaired by Leeds and Partners, and is made up of key partners in the city’s health and social care ecosystem, including health providers, health commissioners, the local authority, universities and the private sector.
Key projects, such as the Leeds Care Record, are already underway within the LIHH as part of the Leeds Informatics Strategy. The Alere programme aims to accelerate the work that is already in place and at a lower cost.
Lurene Joseph, chief executive of Leeds and Partners and chair of the LIHH, said: “The LIHH is adopting a game-changing approach in order to establish Leeds as the UK’s leading centre for health and innovation.
“We are delighted to be forming a strategic partnership with Alere, which will add pace to delivering this ambition. We will be looking to establish a longer-term relationship with Alere in order to drive economic growth and job creation in the city.
“International collaboration such as this demonstrates that Leeds has an attractive proposition in the health and innovation sector. This is the first of many strategic relationships we shall be looking to build with a wide range of partners to create value and improve the health and wealth of the people of Leeds.”
Sumit Nagpal, chief architect and project director for this initiative at Alere, said: “Technology is key to delivering better care and managing costs. With our partners in Leeds, we will work to break down the walls, and make it possible to create new care delivery realities that extend from the patient’s home to social care.”
