Global Health Secretary heralds "worldwide technological revolution in healthcare" with the MHRA debuting a novel digital center
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has announced the launch of a new digital hub in Leeds, England. This initiative forms part of a broader UK government strategy to boost the country's status as a life sciences powerhouse and improve pandemic preparedness and biosecurity.
The Leeds digital hub aims to advance innovation in digital health and life sciences, modernize regulatory frameworks, and streamline processes. By fostering collaboration with digital health networks, NHS organizations, and leading academic institutions across the nation, the hub seeks to enhance the MHRA's regional presence and help ensure life-saving healthcare innovations reach patients faster.
The choice of Leeds as the location for the digital hub is strategic, given the city's strong expertise in digital health, established academic base, and close ties to the NHS. The Leeds area is home to around 11,000 students studying tech-related subjects and approximately 44,000 working-age tech professionals, making it an ideal hub for digital innovation.
The new roles created for the digital hub will be part of the Digital and Technology Group (DTG) within the MHRA. The DTG focuses on delivering an optimized infrastructure and maximizing the secure use of data to improve services for patients and the public. The MHRA plans to recruit around 30 permanent, highly-skilled roles for the digital hub, focused on digital delivery, software development, and data science.
The launch of the digital hub in Leeds is expected to create new jobs across the region and bolster a city that's already leading in digital health. This initiative complements other investments such as the national biosecurity centre in Essex and is part of the Government's Places for Growth strategy.
Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, commented on the launch, stating, "This new digital hub in Leeds will drive regional growth and job creation in the healthcare technology sector, while accelerating the delivery of innovative healthcare solutions to patients across the UK."
Major tech companies are also investing increasingly in the Leeds area, further solidifying the city's position as a hub for digital innovation. The MHRA's new digital hub in Leeds city centre is set to play a significant role in this global tech revolution in healthcare.
The Leeds digital hub, part of the MHRA's Digital and Technology Group, aims to foster collaboration with digital health networks and academia to streamline medical devices and digital health innovation, ultimately enhancing health-and-wellness services. By leveraging technology to modernize regulatory frameworks, this initiative seeks to accelerate the delivery of these innovations to patients across the UK, bolstered by the city's strong expertise in digital health and tech talent pool.
