Health and care partners in Greater Manchester have collaborated with industry and academia to secure a multi-million pound health innovation accelerator, which aims to rapidly improve the treatment and diagnosis of diseases across the 2.8m GM population.
The government has invested £100 million to boost three high-potential innovation clusters in Glasgow, Greater Manchester, and the West Midlands.
The GM health accelerator programme will fund the following projects:
- Liver disease – working from the existing ID LIVER research project to identify liver disease more quickly.
- Heart failure – focusing on communities most in need and developing new approaches to identify people at risk of heart failure.
- Lung cancer screening – building on the established Lung Health Checks programme to develop digital approaches for more targeted screening and community outreach.
- Chest pain – collaborating with the North West Ambulance Service to develop diagnostic tools for paramedics to use before patients reach hospital.
- Community diagnostics – rolling out proven point of care tests and diagnostic tools to improve the identification of people at risk of lung disease, heart disease, and other cardiometabolic conditions, with focus on under represented communities.
Each project will have a shared ethos in the hopes of reducing inequalities, driving productivity through innovative collaborations, building new relationships with communities, and enhancing existing assets within the GM system.
The programme is set to run for two years and forms part of a larger ambition to improve health outcomes for high risk individuals and those living in the most disadvantaged communities, ultimately aiming to save lives. It will be delivered through a partnership between Health Innovation Manchester, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, and the University of Manchester.
Professor Graham Lord, Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health at the University of Manchester, said: “We are delighted that our city region has been recognised as a powerhouse for healthcare and life sciences innovation and proud of The University of Manchester’s part in this success. The innovation accelerator programme has great potential to transform healthcare for the better in our region and more generally.”
