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€5m allocated to National Health Innovation Hub

Did you know?  Healthcare is one of the largest, fastest growing, and most complex industries in the world. Nine of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in the world have a base in Ireland, as do eight of the top 10 medtech companies and eight of the top 10 software providers.

Building on a pilot Health Innovation Hub programme in Cork in 2012 which supported some 20 projects Government has decided to scale the project up to national level. With that in mind, this week €5m in funding was announced in setting up a pioneering partnership between private sector companies and the health service to develop groundbreaking Irish healthcare products and research and use them to benefit of Irish patients. The aim of Health Innovation Hub Ireland is to foster links between Irish health service and vital new technologies.

Innovative Irish healthcare companies will for the first time be able to easily access the health service to test their products and services, increasing the chances of developing commercial ideas and creating jobs. Meanwhile the health service will have easy access to innovative companies who can provide solutions to the problems that it faces, making it cheaper and easier to deliver better healthcare to more patients, making it a win-win for businesses, the health service, and for job-creation.

Successful pilot programme

Already the results of the initiative have proven positive, with the pilot Hub in Cork University Hospital showing its value and fostering a number of innovative healthcare products and services

The Hub has already supported 23 projects involving 27 companies including:

  • an online tool for GPs to monitor the physical activity of patients via a smartphone or wearable devices; 
  • scheduling services to improve patient flow; 
  • infection control and hygiene management systems.

And it has helped Irish-based companies to sell their technology abroad:

  • Lincor Solutions tested bedside units to provide entertainment, education and access to clinical data. Access to clinical data provides the clinical team with more information at patient bedside and can improve patient satisfaction
  • Radisens, who were validating point of care testing equipment, have now closed a contract with a Tier‐1 strategic customer for Troponin development. Radisens secured a significant ESA contract valued at €1m to develop an innovative blood testing device for use by astronauts on board the International Space Station and on various human spaceflight missions 
  • Abtran, who were testing an electronic GP referral system were able to use the knowledge gained to tender for a similar service in a UK Trust

Read the #allaboutjobs case study about Lincor's work in the pilot Health Innovation Hub in Cork.

About the Health Innovation Hub

The aim of the Health Innovation Hub is to drive collaboration between the health system and commercial enterprises leading to the development and commercialisation of new healthcare technologies, products, and services, emerging from within the health system and/or enterprise. It will establish Ireland as a leading location for start-ups and expanding medtech/healthcare companies to interface easily with hospitals and primary care centres.

The Health Innovation Hub will enable healthcare companies to more quickly and more successfully deliver commercial products and services which can create jobs, by providing facilitated access to the health service to validate their products/services in a real life clinical environment.

Based on clinical feedback, they can refine and optimise their products/services to ensure they can ultimately offer the solutions which the healthcare system needs, and secondly, to allow the health service to find efficiencies and improvements by facilitating the Health Services Executive and the wider health care system to engage and participate with innovative companies in creating solutions to everyday challenges.

An independent evaluation of the pilot was carried out in Q2 2014 and concluded that the Health Innovation Hub has the potential to be a vital component of national innovation infrastructure and its value has been recognised by the relevant stakeholders in the healthcare sector. On the basis of this positive evaluation Government agreed in July 2014 to establish the Hub at a national level with direct financial support from Enterprise Ireland and in-kind support from the HSE including seconded staff.

The Health Innovation Hub was included as a Disruptive Reform in Government's Action Plan for Jobs 2013 and 2014 as a joint initiative of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Department of Health.

Useful stats

  • Nine of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in the world have a base in Ireland, as do eight of the top 10 medtech companies and eight of the top 10 software providers.
  • More than 100,000 people are employed in the public health sector and as many again with private healthcare providers, insurers, pharmaceutical companies, medical devices, and in research and development. 
  • There are 50,000 jobs in the lifesciences sector in Ireland alone and this sector accounts for half of Ireland’s merchandise exports, at over €56 billion per annum.
  • Total ICT exports from Ireland reached €84.6 billion in 2013 – giving combined lifesciences and ICT exports of over €140 billion.