Alder Hey is the latest organisation to join the NHSA’s membership alongside eight other research-intensive NHS Trusts and 10 universities across the North of England.

The NHSA advocates on behalf of its members, builds critical mass, engages with industry, and increases the visibility of the North’s excellence nationally and internationally.

Alder Hey has an international reputation for delivering world-class care, specialist clinical training and impactful research which benefit children and young people, and in recent years has become recognised as a leader in healthcare innovation.

Alder Hey’s unique Innovation Hub, which opened in 2015 when Alder Hey moved into their new hospital, is the largest, dedicated, purpose-built, hospital-led innovation centre in the UK. The hospital’s strategic focus on healthier, happier and fairer futures for children is supported by state-of-the-art digital infrastructure, a dedicated commercial innovation team and active engagement with industry, academia and the local community.

Its vision of making pioneering breakthroughs via co-creation with patients and other partners aligns with the NHSA mission and vision. As a member, Alder Hey will now have access to the NHSA’s programmes and expert networks in areas including advanced therapies, diagnostics and MedTech, data and AI, mental health, and health inequalities.

John Chester, Director of Research and Innovation at Alder Hey said: “Alder Hey is delighted and proud to be the newest member of the Northern Health Science Alliance. The NHSA has already demonstrated its enormous value in bringing together an outstanding, multi-professional consortium of the North’s premier academic health organisations to address the most pressing needs of our population.

“We are looking forward to helping to build on that success and to the opportunities for more and stronger health science partnerships which our membership will provide. We look forward to working collaboratively with our fellow NHSA members to tackle the very real health and social challenges facing children and young people in the north of England and globally.”

Dr Séamus O’Neill, Chief Executive Officer at the NHSA, said: “Alder Hey Children’s Hospital is a fantastic organisation. They have established leaders in research and innovation throughout the trust and their contribution to nationally and internationally important paediatric R&D is truly impressive. Working with Alder Hey, one cannot fail to be impressed by the commitment throughout the organisation to supporting the development of disruptive innovations and effecting real change for the children, young people and families it serves.

“Given the trust’s track record of fostering groundbreaking projects within the digital and MedTech space, there are potential opportunities for even more extensive collaboration through our expert networks. Alder Hey don’t stand still and the addition of their insight and expertise to what is already available across the NHSA is very exciting.

“We are proud to welcome such a pioneering organisation to our pan-northern alliance. We look forward to creating opportunities together and amplifying the successes as we expand the connectivity of the North’s health research and innovation excellence.”

The NHSA visited Alder Hey’s Innovation Hub to mark the trust’s joining as a member of the alliance. The team were given a tour of the centre before an event where the NHSA and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital teams discussed opportunities for future collaboration.