Â鶹´«Ã½ to establish a Health Research, Education, Enterprise and Innovation Zone

Memorandum of Understanding strengthens partnerships in the north of the city
Tracey Lee, Professor Richard Davies Vice Chancellor Â鶹´«Ã½, David Hockton, and Mark Hackett
Left to right: Tracey Lee, Chief Executive at Â鶹´«Ã½ City Council, Professor Richard Davies, Vice-Chancellor of the Â鶹´«Ã½, David Hockton, CEO of PSP, and Mark Hackett, Interim Chief Executive at UHP.
A new Memorandum of Understanding has been signed, marking the commitment of the Â鶹´«Ã½, Â鶹´«Ã½ City Council, University Hospitals Â鶹´«Ã½ NHS Trust, and Â鶹´«Ã½ Science Park (PSP) to create a Health, Research, Education, Enterprise and Innovation Zone in the north of Â鶹´«Ã½.
This agreement continues work undertaken between the University and hospital to strengthen their existing clinical academic partnership, and aims to bring world-class facilities for business, alongside academic and health research, development and education. It also builds on the existing partnership between the council and University to support economic development through PSP.

I am proud that our city already enjoys the broadest health education offer in the South West, encompassing excellence in medicine, dentistry, health professions and social care.

This new partnership will expand that provision further and extend our research collaborations, to significantly benefit the health and wellbeing of people in our local community and wider region.

Richard DaviesProfessor Richard Davies
Vice-Chancellor

Councillor Tudor Evans, Leader, Â鶹´«Ã½ City Council said:
We are on the cusp of massive growth and development on a scale not seen in Â鶹´«Ã½ since the post-war years. The regeneration of our city centre and £4.4 billion investment in HMNB Devonport Dockyard will unlock unparalleled opportunities for our residents and businesses.

But we need a healthy work force and there’s more we can do as a city to foster greater links with our health providers and the talent of health technology and research companies the north of the city. That’s why we are keen to be part of this vision for a major Health Research, Education, Enterprise and Innovation zone to make the most of the opportunities on the horizon.

If ever there was a time to work together to create the health infrastructure the city’s population needs, it is now.
Mark Hamilton, Chief Medical Officer for the NHS Trust said:
The signing of this Memorandum of Understanding is a key milestone in bringing together the clinical academic research and education in the City to benefit our local population. The Trust already has a strong record in Research, and recently the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) ran clinical trials with 33,374 patients being recruited from Trust. This ranks the Trust in second place nationally, just behind Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, based in London. Working with the University, Council and Science Park will enable us to further build our capacity for delivering cutting edge research and allow more local people access to clinical trials.
Over the coming months, the organisations will work together to create a shared vision for this new North Â鶹´«Ã½ Zone, based around Derriford Hospital and PSP's estate, working with other local stakeholders.