Health Technology Wales (HTW) and Life Sciences Hub Wales are to continue working in partnership after the two organisations pledged to maintain and further develop their successful relationship.
The latest agreement will see HTW and Life Sciences Hub Wales continue to support the development and adoption of innovative health and care technology in Wales.
The two organisations have worked together on several projects to support health technology innovation – including a recent event co-hosted with Digital Health and Care Wales to explore digital solutions for health and social care.
Life Sciences Hub Wales and HTW have exchanged knowledge, expertise and access to networks of experts as part of their collaboration. Life Sciences Hub Wales' representatives sit on Health Technology Wales’ independent professional advisor groups and the HTW Scientific Advice Service which launched in 2020, has benefited from referrals from Life Sciences Hub Wales.
Life Sciences Hub Wales is an arm’s length body of Welsh Government which supports innovation and collaboration between industry, health, social care and academia. Its mission is to accelerate the development and adoption of innovation solutions for better health and wellbeing in Wales. Life Sciences Hub Wales partners with industry to advance economic development across the life sciences sector in Wales.
Life Sciences Hub Wales Chairman, Dr Chris Martin, said:
“We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with Health Technology Wales to accelerate the development and adoption of innovative health and social care solutions in Wales. Our mission is to help transform the health and economic wellbeing of the nation and it is through strategic partnerships such as this one that we can achieve that goal.”
HTW is a national body set up in 2017 to work with partners across health, social care and the technology sectors to deliver a strategic approach to the identification, appraisal and adoption of non-medicine health and care technologies. It is funded by Welsh Government and hosted within NHS Wales but is independent of both.
Speaking after the signing of the new MoU, HTW Chairman Professor Peter Groves said:
“We have benefited greatly from our collaboration with Life Sciences Hub Wales – an organisation which shares our ambitious goal to improve health and social care in Wales by facilitating the adoption of innovative health technology solutions.”
HTW Director, Dr Susan Myles, added:
“Now, more than ever, innovative solutions are needed to solve the challenges facing the health and social care sectors in Wales and we believe that this collaboration will be a driving force behind the development and adoption of those solutions.”