New agreement to spearhead earlier detection and diagnosis of cancer and other health conditions across Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester’s capacity to detect and diagnose cancers – and other health conditions which disproportionally affect the city region’s population – has been accelerated through a new strategic partnership.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), Siemens Healthineers and The University of Manchester (UoM), will formalise already close working relationships between the three organisations.

Indeed, in January 2021, MFT and Siemens Healthineers confirmed a 15-year technology partnership – with a value of approximately £125 million.

The Value Partnership between Siemens Healthineers and the Trust ensures the provision and replacement of key radiology equipment across nine of MFT’s hospitals, and represents a strong investment in the future of the UK’s largest NHS trust and the 750,000 people it delivers care for.

Key priority areas encompassed within the new, tri-party MoU include:

• earlier detection and intervention for cancer patients
• data-driven approaches to early diagnosis – ensuring patients receive the right treatment sooner
• integrative diagnostic approaches (testing) for conditions which disproportionally affect the Greater Manchester (GM) population, such as heart disease and preventable cancers.

Dr Katherine Boylan, Head of Innovation at MFT, said: “Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to sign this new agreement with our close partners Siemens Healthineers and The University of Manchester.

“It will provide a formal framework for joint working, bringing the power of industry, academia and the NHS together to deliver benefit for the populations we serve, enabling us to collaboratively deliver outputs at pace.

“It is widely recognised that there are deep-rooted health inequalities and high levels of long-term conditions across GM, and our three organisations are committed to working to address these persisting issues.”

Professor Neil Hanley, Vice-Dean covering Research and Innovation in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health at The University of Manchester, said: “This new partnership is really exciting and further evidence of our strength in working across university, NHS and commercial boundaries to translate research into innovations that make a real difference not just locally, but also out in the wider world.

“No one partner could do this by themselves, it is true synergy.”

 

Dr Craig Buckley, Head of Research and Development at Siemens Healthineers GB&I, said: “Manchester has recognised that it faces considerable population health challenges, highlighting the need for a healthcare system focussed on rapidly delivering improved patient outcomes.

“Pioneering breakthroughs in healthcare is at the heart of what we do. This partnership marks a joint commitment to tackling the burden of cancer and other prevalent diseases in the region, with the aim of delivering cutting-edge detection and diagnosis, as we seek new ways of delivering care.”

Photo: Professor Neil Hanley; Vice-Dean covering Research and Innovation in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health at The University of Manchester, Dr Katherine Boylan, Head of Innovation at MFT, and Dr Alexandra Olaru, Research Collaborations Lead at Siemens Healthineers.

Research infrastructure across Greater Manchester

GM has one of the largest National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) infrastructures in the country.

This includes the NIHR Manchester Clinical Research Facility, which was recently awarded increased funding to grow experimental medicine research across the city region during the next five years.

The GM research portfolio also encompasses the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre, co-hosted by MFT and UoM, which translates scientific breakthroughs into diagnostic tests and life-saving treatments.