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Topic : News and Press Type : Press Release

The Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI) is delighted to announce a new strategic partnership with Birmingham Health Partners (BHP), through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will see the two organisations work together to unlock innovation, accelerate research translation, and improve health outcomes across one of the UK’s most diverse regions.

BHP is an alliance that brings together:

• Aston University
• Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
• Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
• Birmingham Women and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
• Health Innovation Network – West Midlands
• Royal Orthopaedic NHS Foundation Trust
• Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust
• University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
• University of Birmingham

Rooted in the West Midlands but operating with a global mindset, BHP’s mission is to transform healthcare through collaborative innovation, high-impact research, and equitable partnerships that directly address population need.

This new agreement between ABHI and BHP reflects a shared ambition to better connect the HealthTech industry with the academic and clinical excellence embedded across Birmingham and the wider region. The partnership will provide a more coordinated route for HealthTech companies to access world-leading expertise, infrastructure and patient insight, enabling technologies to be developed and evaluated with relevance to real-world settings.

At a dinner to mark the MoU signing, partners discussed BHP’s role as a “front door” to the region - a clear entry point for HealthTech and life sciences companies looking to collaborate across the city’s extensive ecosystem. Birmingham boasts globally ranked academic institutions and attracts significant health and life sciences research funding. Yet, as was noted, the full potential of the region’s assets has historically been held back by fragmented working. The time is now right to align around shared priorities and deliver collective impact.

Importantly, Birmingham’s population provides a powerful testbed for innovation. As one of the youngest and most ethnically diverse cities in Europe, with a relatively stable and rooted population, it offers the opportunity to generate insights and outcomes that have both local relevance and global applicability. The region spans the full range of deprivation indicators, presenting a unique opportunity to develop and scale interventions that reduce health inequalities and improve access for underserved groups.

The conversation also focused on the urgent need to shift language and culture - moving away from a focus on shortcomings and barriers, and instead embracing the language of opportunity. That is not to say Birmingham is without it challenges. In the area of mental health, for example, those living with severe mental illness face a reduction in life expectancy of 15 to 20 years. Within the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) area, rates of common mental illness among adults exceed the national average in six of the seven local authorities. Yet it is precisely in these areas that HealthTech can play a transformational role, helping to reimagine care, deliver earlier interventions, and support more equitable outcomes.

Women’s health was also highlighted as a critical area of focus, with both ABHI and BHP committed to closing gender health gaps through innovative approaches and technology-enabled, whole-person models of care.

The partnership will measure success against three overarching priorities:

• Demonstrating measurable improvements in clinical outcomes.
• Ensuring that technologies are scalable and relevant to population health, not just individual conditions.
• Addressing inequalities in access and experience of care, in support of a fairer, more resilient health system.

This collaboration builds on recent findings from the Health Innovation Network’s Size of the Prize analysis, which highlights the £278 billion economic potential that healthcare innovations could unlock if adopted at scale. It reflects ABHI’s strategic commitment to nurturing regional partnerships that not only drive economic growth, but also deliver tangible improvements in people’s lives.

We look forward to sharing further details and opportunities that will emerge from this important partnership in the months ahead.

Executive Director of Birmingham Health Partners, Professor Neil Hanley, and ABHI Chief Executive, Peter Ellingworth, sign the MoU agreement. 

ABHI delegation meet with Birmingham Health Partners representatives.