Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, together with Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority, have announced plans for a market engagement exercise as part of the development of the city’s innovation village and new hospital.
The trust is looking to collaborate with investors, developers and leading suppliers on new opportunities for the site, while also “pursuing alternative delivery models outside of NHS capital budgets to bring forward new, fit-for-purpose clinical buildings”.
According to the trust, they aim to have this market engagement exercise completed by the end of 2025, with hopes they’ll gain findings that “support a masterplan to consider short and medium-term development opportunities” and help to create “clear guidance for the innovation village site to support its future development”.
The development of the innovation village is “expected to create 4,000 jobs and £13 billion in economic benefits”, having already started work on the first stage of transformation, which involves turning the Old Medical School into a “cutting-edge health tech innovation hub in partnership with Scarborough Group International”.
“Leeds Teaching Hospitals is committed to delivering world-class healthcare,” Professor Phil Wood, chief executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, commented “and our approach to harnessing innovation means we can bring clinicians, academics and private sector partners together to introduce the latest medical advancements to patients and address health inequalities. By pursuing alternative delivery models, we’re seeking to bring forward urgent healthcare improvements while creating significant social and economic benefits, which aligns perfectly with the government’s vision for our NHS and the UK’s future health and prosperity.”
Innovation in the Leeds area: the wider trend
For a recent HTN Now webinar on building local digital capability in the NHS, we were joined by experts from Leeds Teaching Hospitals and Aire Innovate, to explore how LTHT engages clinicians to shape its in-house electronic health record, supporting flexibility, scalability and resilience across Leeds and the wider region. We covered the benefits of in-house capability as well as the role of culture and engagement.
A new digital hub was recently launched in Leeds, offering support and advice on sexual health in a quick and accessible way. Commissioned by Leeds City Council, it provides valuable information specifically aimed at young people, to keep them informed about emergency contraception and testing for STIs, pregnancy and HIV.
HTN recently held an event in Leeds, welcoming digital experts from across health and care for discussion and participation on a range of challenge questions around innovation and digital projects. Plans are in place to announce a second event, HTN Live in Leeds, which will take place later in the year. Check out our latest schedule to find out more about how you can get involved with our upcoming events.
