The Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI) will partner Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership (GMHSP) and Health Innovation Manchester to form the Greater Manchester Health Technologies Group partnership.

The partnership is designed to ensure that the latest healthcare technologies, innovations which can contribute to earlier diagnosis, more effective treatments, and care services provided at home and in the community rather than in hospitals.

The agreement also sets out how the health technology industry will partner the region to create a site for developing treatments of the future, as well as supporting Manchester’s health technology sector.

Professor Ben Bridgewater, chief executive of Health Innovation Manchester, said: “HealthTech enables new approaches to the maintenance of wellness and the treatment of disease that allows commissioners, providers, and consumers alike to derive benefits. With its devolved health and social care system and emerging digital infrastructure, Greater Manchester is uniquely placed to work collaboratively with health technology pioneers to deploy proven innovation system-wide and at pace, realising benefits sooner. This MoU represents yet another landmark for Greater Manchester which will ensure that the region achieves the best possible outcomes from health technologies and secures the best value from its investments both now and in the future.”

The agreement also sets out how the health technology industry will partner the region to create a site for developing treatments of the future, as well as supporting Manchester’s health technology sector.

Jon Rouse, chief officer of the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, said: “Here in Greater Manchester we’re proud to do things differently and this Memorandum of Understanding is a great example of this. When we entered into devolution one of our core aims was to improve life expectancy and reduce health inequalities across the region, fostering partnerships with industry is crucial to achieving this."

Peter Ellingworth, chief executive of the Association of British HealthTech Industries added: “Health Innovation Manchester has a critical role in accelerating the adoption of HealthTech to enable the local population to get the best and most efficient healthcare possible. This partnership will connect medical device companies, diagnostic manufactures, and digitally-enabled technologies, across the region, so that evidence can be generated, and adoption is scaled at speed. We very much look forward to working together, as outlined in this MOU, both domestically and internationally.”