Life Sciences Vision Launched with HealthTech Central to its Success
The Life Sciences Vision has today been launched, with further context as to the genesis of the publication provided by Eleanor Charsley last month.
There is much to be positive about in the vision. It is ambitious in nature and, importantly, collaboration with the NHS is a key theme throughout. Aligned to our Chief Innovation Officer campaign, I am pleased to see a call to increase both the accountability and resource for innovation adoption included. The role for HealthTech in helping the NHS to reach its sustainability targets, whilst acknowledging the support the industry will need to help us play our part and reduce our own environmental impact, is notable, and is an area where we are actively engaging. The focus on the development, and use of, real world evidence is also central, and there is clear understanding of the importance of access and uptake, and what must be done to improve the issue.
What is evident in today’s publication is the increased understanding and awareness of the HealthTech sector, making this a true life sciences vision. The way our industry has responded throughout the pandemic has raised the profile of the contribution you all make and, subsequently, officials in the Office for Life Sciences (OLS) have made a significant effort to ensure representation, working closely with my team and with you, both directly, as well as through our Board and Public Affairs group.
Since 2017’s Life Sciences Industrial Strategy, there has been a deliberate and strategic increase in the energy and efforts we dedicate to representing you to the highest echelons of government. In 2018, we seconded Eleanor Charsley into the OLS, who has since led our strategic engagements into the Life Sciences Council and the numerous associated expert groups that I am pleased to personally dedicate significant resource to attending. We pushed hard to ensure our sector had appropriate representation, and in 2020 we were delighted to see both our Chair, Phil Kennedy, and Roland Diggelmann, CEO of Smith & Nephew, sit on the Council. We have also added two additional Directors to our team, Luella Trickett and Stephen Lee, that has allowed us to deepen our work in the commercial and regulatory environment, whilst furthering our expertise of both diagnostics and digital health, all evident in the vision.
Our member groups have always been central to raising awareness of our sector and shaping our work, and our Board of Directors, who remain engaged and energetic, have delivered important leadership and industry representation to key stakeholders. ABHI’s overall engagement in this area, led by Richard Phillips, has opened new avenues for our policy work, particularly through our regional MoUs. Our relationships with the OLS in this case allowed us to be a central part of the drafting team as this publication developed and ensure our priorities, taken predominantly from our Making it Happen report, were a key consideration.
