Government sets up innovation hub for health sector

The Government has set up a €5 million Health Innnovation Hub designed to encourage private sector companies and the health services to jointly develop products and research for patients.

The initiative, which builds on a pilot project set up in UCC in 2012, is funded by Enterprise Ireland and will use staff seconded from the HSE.

Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton and Minister for Health Leo Varadkar, who announced the hub at Government Buildings, described it as a "win-win" for business, the health service and job creation.

Innovative Irish healthcare companies will be able to access the health service easily for the first time to test their products and services, they said. This will increase the chances of developing commercial ideas and creating jobs.

Meanwhile, the health service will have easy access to innovative companies providing solutions to the challenges it faces, making it cheaper and easier to deliver better healthcare to more patients.

The pilot has already supported 23 projects involving 27 companies including an online tool for GPs to monitor the physical activity of patients, scheduling services to improve patient flow, and infection control and hygiene management systems.

One company, Radisens, has secured a €1 million European Space Agency contract to develop a blood testing device for use by astronauts on board the International Space Station.

Mr Bruton said combined exports from lifesciences and ICT amounted to over €140 billion annually and the strengths of Ireland’s enterprise base can be leveraged to deliver much needed innovation into the health system.

“The commitment by Government to a facility such as the Health Innovation Hub also sends out a very strong message to international companies considering investing in Ireland that we are committed to developing even stronger links between the health and enterprise sectors and the high level R&D driving each sector.”

Mr Varadkar pointed out that the health service makes an enormous contribution to the economy, with 100,000 people employed in the public system and many thousands more in private medicine. “The Health Innovation Hub is an opportunity to build on this by creating linkages between the health service and industry to develop new products and services that we can use to improve our own health service at home and sell as products and services abroad. It’s also a good example of joined-up Government as it involves two Government Departments, two Government agencies and the universities.”

A consortium led by University College Cork, with partners including Cork Institute of Technology, Trinity College Dublin and the National University of Ireland Galway, was appointed following a competitive process a to the hub.

A director is to be appointed shortly to guide the project through the next five years.