UK's first City of Health and Innovation

Leeds �City of Health Innovation� aims to translate policy into effective change to create the best local health system in the world, sharing a new kind of health systems leadership that positions healthy individuals at the heart of economic development and growth.

The learnings from Leeds� first ever International Health Symposium will also be used to continue a lasting legacy of growth following the Grand D�part International Business Festival 2014, taking place in the city from the 2nd to the 4th July.

�City of Health Innovation� brings together Leeds Innovation Health Hub (a cluster of national policymakers with high-end commissioning capabilities, that includes The University of Leeds, NHS England, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the Health and Social Care Information Centre, the NHJS Leadership Academy, Health Education England, the Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, the WELMEC Centre of Excellence in Medical Engineering, Leeds Data Mill and Leeds Care Record), to foster both innovation and enterprise as core tools in supporting better quality and affordable healthcare in the future.

�Leeds is setting the standard for healthy, wealthy cities, where positive health outcomes will be citizen-led and delivered at pace, supported with socially innovative technology, data driving prevention and with human compassion and respect for the environment at its core.�

BEVERLEY BRYANT, DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY FOR NHS ENGLAND

Hamish Clark, Northern Health and Life Sciences Lead at PwC, adds �Driving health on the citizen�s terms and drawing on new collaborations between commissioners, providers, citizens and the private sector has set Leeds ahead of the pack. The International Business Festival will showcase the transformational attitudes that place listening, understanding and co-production at the heart of value creation in health.�

Leeds claim to the City of Health Innovation title is also a clear call to international investors to focus on Leeds� world-leading �UK in one city� research opportunity, as the city is statistically representative of the national population and provides easy access to a robust and scalable research sample that can be replicated to drive pan-global growth, along with a wealth of talent from one of the largest concentrations of universities in Europe, producing 36,000 graduates every year.

Lurene Joseph, CEO of Leeds and Partners, said, ��City of Health Innovation� means health without borders. Our public, private and third sector collaborators are seamlessly joined-up, operating in world-class research facilities, with an easily accessible, ready-made population sample to efficiently deliver projects of scale and a rich talent pool. Where data meets health, our informatics offering is unbeatable and advanced business models place leaders in the fields of combined medical and information technology at the heart of a new breed of dynamic enterprise, delivering smart outcomes for patients, particularly the elderly or socially isolated.�

Leeds is uniquely placed as headquarters to four of the most important UK national health service bodies, responsible for well over �100bn annual spend. It is home to over 100 companies specialising in medical devices, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals together employing over 3,500 people. The city manufactures some of the most specialised medical devices with many companies being award-winners in their respective fields, exporting to a range of overseas markets and is home to two of the top UK GP practice software suppliers, EMIS and TPP.

City of Health Innovation offers businesses R&D support from its universities, including one of the strongest bioscience innovation offers in the UK. York Biocentre, the Bioincubator at Leeds Innovation Centre and Bradford Bioincubator together provide 9% of all dedicated bioincubator space in the UK.

The last decade has seen considerable growth in innovation-led, high-value sub-sectors such as biotechnology, advanced surgical instrumentation, pharmaceuticals, regenerative medicine, telehealth and nutraceutricals.

City of Health Innovation will feature as part of the International Economic Conference � Power. Performance. Potential. which is the key note event of the Grand D�part International Business Festival and takes place on Friday 4th July.