BQ North East Special Feature autumn 2016

LIFE SCIENCES AND HEALTHCARE 28-page special feature

SPECIAL FEATURE

An appliance of science to change young lives Alison Shaw is working to bring about a revolution in science education in the North East, as she explains to Peter Jackson

The Academic Health Science Network for the North East and North Cumbria (AHSN NENC) is committed to improving both the health and economic prosperity of the region through innovation and dissemination of best practice.

Through engagement with stakeholders across the region the AHSN NENC has: • • • • • •

Led on the local bid to bring the £4m Connected Health Cities Programme to the region.

Continued to support delivery of the North East Futures University Technical College, to address the regional skills gaps.

Secured European Structural Innovation Fund monies of £2m to provide bespoke support to regional SMEs. Created The Innovation Pathway as a coherent offering within the region; now adopted across the national AHSN Network.

Delivered a range of patient safety projects and aligned our work with the Health Foundation’s Q Initiative.

Brought together expert practitioners, opinion leaders, patient groups and colleagues from the pharmaceutical industry to deliver demonstrable improvements in pathways and outcomes.

For further information on the AHSN for the North East and North Cumbria please contact: enquiries@ahsn-nenc.org.uk

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 @AHSN_NENC

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www.ahsn-nenc.org.uk

WELCOME

Special Feature: Life Sciences and Healthcare

Partnerships the key to securing sound futures Welcome to this BQ2 Special Feature in which we focus on Life Sciences and Healthcare, two of the sectors that hold out the greatest prospect for our future prosperity.

In the North, Life Sciences employs about 38,000 people in almost 160 businesses, ranging from giants such as GlaxoSmithKline to small, specialist research companies and these are supported by 85 specialist supply chain companies.

These businesses contribute a combined turnover of £10.5bn to the Northern economy.

It is too soon to predict the effects of Brexit on the Life Sciences sector, but the early signs are encouraging with GlaxoSmithKline announcing at the end of last month that it will be investing £275m to expand and create jobs at its UK manufacturing sites, including its site in Barnard Castle in County Durham.

Jobs in Life Sciences are highly skilled and well paid – which will not only strengthen and broaden the regional economy directly, but which will also bring long-term depth, being far more resilient in the face of competition from emerging economies.

With an ageing population and medical advances, Healthcare is also a sector of growing importance, demanding ever higher skill levels.

However, while these sectors provide the North with a golden opportunity, they also bring new challenges. Chief among these is the question: where are we to find the skilled and well educated young people to fill these new jobs and drive these industries forward?

Unless we can meet this challenge, our Life Sciences and Healthcare sectors will be seriously handicapped and we will lose some of that wealth creation to other regions or countries that do train the necessary workforce.

We carry an interview with Alison Shaw, strategic director of North East Futures, the new University Technical College (UTC) scheduled to open in Newcastle in September 2017.

By working closely with employers and with an emphasis on a practical – while still academically rigorous – curriculum, North East Futures will take 600 students aged 14 to 18 and give them the skills and education required by businesses in IT and Healthcare Sciences.

We also carry a full report of one of our BQ Live Debates, sponsored by North East Futures, in which a number of the most influential figures in Life Sciences, many of whom are supporters of the UTC, examine the nature of the skills challenge facing the sector and how it might be addressed.

This expert panel has not shied from the scale of the problem, but meets it head on with a number of practical ways of tackling it, demonstrating a clear determination on the part of the sector to work in partnership to secure its own future and the futures of our young people.

Finally, we profile the Innovation Pathway, a programme delivered by AHSN (Academic Health Science Network) for the North East and North Cumbria. In partnership with other organisations, this is aimed at helping the commercialisation and use of emerging innovations and to drive high-tech R&D to improve Healthcare. We look at the way it works, its significant impact on the economy and some of its initiatives and how they fit into the national Healthcare picture.

We hope you enjoy the read.

Peter Jackson, BQ Editor In association with

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11 CHANGING YOUNG LIVES Mastering science, the new approach

CONTENTS 04

ON THE MOVE

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BEAM THERAPY

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HIGH CALIBRE

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LIVE DEBATE

Virus fighters are bringing jobs North

Funding boost for a cancer centre

Medical stalwart at varsity’s helm

Experts address the skills challenge

READ ONLINE BQ Magazine is available to read online at bqlive.co.uk for when you are on the move

@BQLIVE

BQ LIVE

BUSINESS UPDATE Drug developers come North A pioneering biotechnology firm, which is developing a drug to target a common virus, will create new jobs after expanding into the North East. London-based ReViral has almost reached the clinical trials stage of its drug, which will combat Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) – a virus which infects the lungs and can cause bronchiolitis and pneumonia and is particularly dangerous in those with compromised immune systems, particularly when found in young children and the elderly. Durham University lecturer Dr Stuart Cockerill and his former colleagues at Arrow Therapeutics combined their expertise in the areas of virology and antiviral therapies and set up ReViral in 2011. The company was boosted when it won a £3.4m Seeding Drug Discovery Award from the Wellcome Trust to fund its first RSV antiviral programme to the stage of filing for their first clinical trial.

Now ReViral has opened a research facility at the North East Technology Park, (NETPark) in Sedgefield, County Durham where it will be creating five jobs. It joins scores of other high tech medical companies which are working

in the healthcare industry. Dr Cockerill led the team which discovered GlaxoSmithKline’s breast cancer drug Tykerb. ReViral has the potential to develop projects against other viruses including developing drugs to combat Hepatitis B and the dangerous mosquito born virus, Zika. Dr Cockerill, who is also a senior lecturer in medicinal chemistry at Durham University said: “It’s been hard work to get to this point but it’s very exciting to be here now. Treatment for RSV represents a very important multi-billion dollar market since up until very recently there’s been no effective treatment for it. In the UK we don’t routinely test for RSV. It’s an infection which circulates throughout the world with people being more susceptible in winter. Healthy people can shake it off, but if you’ve a depressed immune system it can leave you vulnerable to other infections which might kick in resulting in pneumonia, which can prove fatal. And you can be infected multiple times.

Dr Cockerill, senior lecturer in medicinal chemistry at Durham University

“The levels of infection are even higher than you might imagine. There are paediatric emergency beds in hospitals across the world which are full of kids with RSV. It’s a multibillion dollar market to tap into. They have an antibody which is aimed at preventing the infection, but only in premature babies and it costs US$8,000 per treatment.

“Once we get to the clinical trial stage later this year it will be about another six to seven years before it is available, but we may benefit from a fast track approval process which will cut that time.”

Catherine Johns, director of innovation at Business Durham, said: “ReViral is exactly the type of company which will thrive at NETPark – it’s innovative and developing drugs which will have a worldwide impact on the treatment of viral diseases. We’re delighted they’ve chosen to open a research facility at one of the fastest growing science parks in the country.”

“ReViral is the type of company that will thrive at NETPark - innovative and with worldwide impact”

BUSINESS UPDATE Special Feature: Life Sciences and Healthcare

Let’s Grow funds cancer centre Proton Partners International has secured a £450,000 investment from regional growth fund programme, Let’s Grow North East, for its Northumberland cancer centre.

The investment will help Proton Partners, the company bringing proton beam therapy to the UK, to build its first cancer treatment centre in England. The centre will be at the Earth Balance wellness site in Bomarsund, Northumberland, and is expected to be operational by early 2017.

The centre is the second to be built by Proton Partners in the UK, the first is in Newport, Wales, and the third in West London.

Each centre will be able to treat up to 500 patients every year and provide imaging, chemotherapy and traditional radiotherapy.

Let’s Grow North East is a £60m regional growth fund programme which is operated by business services company BE Group and Newcastle accountancy firm UNW LLP in partnership with the Newcastle Journal and

Middlesbrough Evening Gazette. It provides grant support for capital investment and research and development projects that will create new, sustainable jobs in North East England and is aimed at manufacturing businesses and service sector businesses offering more than a local service.

Andrew Frost, Let’s Grow project adviser at the BE Group, said: “We’re delighted to be supporting Proton Partners International in creating this. The Let’s Grow grant of £450,000 was instrumental in the company deciding to invest here in the North East as opposed to overseas and as well as establishing this new prestigious facility, the investment will also result in the creation of 22 highly skilled jobs and 10 support staff.”

Mike Moran, chief executive officer of Proton Partners International, said: “The demand for proton beam therapy is on the rise; however, patients who currently require this treatment must travel abroad or endure alternative treatment regimes.

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“There is a pressing need to bring this type of treatment to the UK as studies have shown that at least 10% of patients who receive traditional radiotherapy would be treated more effectively with protons.

“Proton Partners are in the process of building three centres across the country, and our Northumberland centre will make proton beam therapy accessible to patients from the North of England and Scotland.

“Throughout the build we will subcontract locally where possible to ensure that we maximise the local infrastructure available.

Our centre will bring jobs to the area, ranging from administrative roles to top medical positions. Also, as the centre will not be residential, patients and their families will require access to local infrastructure when undergoing treatment – benefitting the wider community as a whole.”

All three Proton Partners centres will treat NHS patients, medically-insured private patients and paying patients.

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BUSINESS UPDATE Special Feature: Life Sciences and Healthcare

Professor Chris Day, new Vice-Chancellor at Newcastle University

Medic to head university Newcastle University has appointed Professor Chris Day as its new Vice-Chancellor.

Prof Day previously served as Pro-ViceChancellor (PVC) for the Faculty of Medical Sciences and as a member of the university’s executive board. Prof Day trained in medicine at Churchill College Cambridge University and Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, before joining the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle in 1985. He moved in to the field of liver medicine and in 1987 took up his first research post at Newcastle University. Over three decades he has worked on alcoholic liver disease and non-alcoholic (obesity related) fatty liver disease to help prolong and improve the quality of life for patients across the world. He has been awarded research medals from the Royal College of Physicians and the British Society of Gastroenterology.

Prof Day was previously the head of the school of clinical medical sciences at the university and became PVC for the Faculty of Medical Sciences in 2007. Since then, the medical faculty has risen to be in the world’s top 50 and has achieved international recognition for its research into ageing, liver and mitochondrial diseases. As PVC, Prof Day also spearheaded the development of a series of major new research centres including

the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre in Ageing and Chronic Diseases and the Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Disease. Most recently, he led the successful bid to establish a National Centre for Ageing Science and Innovation in Newcastle, securing £20m from Government. Mark I’Anson, chair of Newcastle University’s governing council and chair of the appointment panel said: “We interviewed an exceptional shortlist of candidates, who all had the very highest regard for the work we do here at Newcastle.

It is testament to our staff and students that we attracted such a high calibre field, all of whom expressed their admiration for the university and its achievements. Chief among them was Chris Day, whose passion for Newcastle University and the contribution we make to the lives of staff, students and the city of Newcastle came across throughout the process.’’ He added: “I believe that we have found an outstanding vice-chancellor in Chris Day and a very worthy successor to Chris Brink who has led this university superbly over the past nine years.’’

Professor Day, said: “This is a huge honour and I am privileged to be able to lead such a wonderful university with so many talented and dedicated staff and students.’’

Future biochemical engineering Esbes, the European Symposium on Biochemical Engineering Sciences 2016, is being held in Dublin between 11 and 14 September. The programme includes: plenaries; invited keynote speakers; more than 117 presentations in four parallel sessions; more than 40 poster presentations; a pre-conference workshop - QBD Related Modelling and Control Strategies; a raw materials forum; writing workshop; and the BEJ Young Investigator Award.

There will also be a jobs forum enabling companies to see potential employees and students will have the opportunity to share their CV and engage with future employers.

Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies chief executive Steve Bagshaw, will pose the question of a global bioeconomy and ask `What is our role?’

Professor Massimo Morbidelli from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich will be highlighting efficiency gains and cost savings in the biopharmaceutical sector.

PROFILE Newcastle University

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Newcastle University leads new project to develop diagnostic tools for different diseases Newcastle’s Molecular Pathology Node brings together industry, clinicians and researchers to identify new tests for rare and chronic illnesses Pathology is not – contrary to popular belief – a branch of medicine that only looks after the dead.

It focuses on disease and illness. Patients are often monitored by a pathologist as their blood test, urine sample or biopsy will have been analysed by a pathology department.

Research also plays a significant role within the specialism as pathologists can help to gain a greater understanding into a variety of serious conditions. Professor Andrew Hall, Associate Dean of Bioresources at Newcastle University, is leading a new project that will work with businesses to use pathology as a way of developing molecular diagnostic tools for different conditions.

He said: “If you have a biopsy taken, for example, that would be taken off to a pathology department, so pathologists look after far more people who are living and there are many exciting new findings in that area, many of them genetic.’’

The Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) awarded Newcastle University £2.7m to set up its Molecular Pathology Node.

Established in September last year, the programme is a partnership between Newcastle University, the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NuTH) and commercial partner NewGene. Its aim is to bring together industry, clinicians and researchers to develop molecular diagnostic tools for different diseases.

The Newcastle Node will focus on identifying new lab tests for a variety of rare and chronic diseases, such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis.

Along with translating basic science into clinical practice, the Newcastle Node will bring together researchers and pathologists, both physically - with space earmarked in the NuTH’s state-ofthe-art clinical pathology department within the Royal Victoria Infirmary - and virtually, to ensure researchers are provided with time, access to clinical expertise and funding to key projects.

Working with businesses is particularly important to the success of Newcastle’s Node.

Professor Hall said: “There’s a realisation that the way you push these things out to patients in the NHS is by working with companies, because

Professor Andrew Hall, Associate Dean of Bioresources at Newcastle University, you need to commercialise it as it requires a lot of investment to turn something into a properly validated technique.’’

As a result, the Node is developing links with diagnostic and instrumentation firms and innovative technology and data-orientated businesses to provide access to expertise, samples and facilities to develop new molecular diagnostic tests. The Node places a particular emphasis on partnership and in Newcastle it is working on a project with a North East company to develop a test which will allow surgeons to operate more effectively on cancer patients by removing a tumour without touching healthy tissue.

It is also supporting a project to allow abnormalities in the DNA taken from the tumours of child cancer patients to be analysed so that the best drugs for treatment can be determined.

“Getting the right sort of samples in the right sort of way in a timely enough way to influence treatment is a technical challenge and it’s a good example of how the Node will help to facilitate those research findings into clinical practice,’’ added Professor Hall. The Node is also working with a Singapore-based company on research into new techniques for assessing fibrosis of the liver.

The location of the Node is a reflection of the high quality basic and translational research and clinical practice of Newcastle Academic

Health Partners (NAHP). NAHP is a collaboration involving Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle University.

This partnership harnesses world-class expertise to ensure patients benefit sooner from new treatments, diagnostics and prevention strategies.

Indeed, together with the Node, Newcastle University has recently been awarded an MRC Single Cell Functional Genomics Unit and, along with existing assets including the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Diagnostic Evidence Cooperative Newcastle and Newcastle University’s Proteomics and Protein Analysis facility, can provide medical diagnostic and related businesses with technical support from single cell analysis through to generating evidence on clinical validity, utility and costeffectiveness of in-vitro diagnostic medical devices for use in the NHS. Professor Hall said: “We are now recognised as one of the leading medical diagnostic centres in the UK, with excellent researchers, infrastructure and clinical environment.

“We also benefit from the incredible generosity of the people of the North East in being stakeholders in our research. They take pride in the research being done locally by local experts.’’

Please contact www.newcastlepathnode.org.uk or pathnode@ncl.ac.uk for information on the Newcastle Pathology Node.

Please contact fmsenterprise@ncl.ac.uk or 0191 208 3461 for further information on Newcastle Academic Health Partners.

For any other business enquiries related to working with Newcastle University, please contact business@ncl.ac.uk or 0191 208 2222.

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BUSINESS UPDATE Special Feature: Life Sciences and Healthcare

Health innovator accolades NHS England medical director Sir Bruce Keogh (above) visited the region to celebrate the best innovations developed by healthcare staff in the North East and North Cumbria.

The 13th Bright Ideas in Health Awards, held at the Hilton Newcastle Gateshead, acknowledged the recent ideas and innovations developed by the region’s frontline NHS staff and healthcare SMEs. Sir Bruce was guest of honour at the event, attended by almost 500 people, at which winning submissions were announced from more than 200 entries received – a record number in the history of the awards.

A panel of judges selected winners in five categories: Innovative Technology or Device, Service Improvement, Innovation in Primary Care, SME Innovation and Patient and Public Involvement - Making Research Better.

Some of the winning ideas included an improved IVF egg collection procedure to save both clinician and embryologist time and a project aimed at empowering GP practice patients to become ‘Practice Champions’.

The winners receive a cash prize along with sustained development support to assist with the commercialisation of their product or service. The event, hosted by TV presenter and journalist, Kim Inglis, had a line-up of speakers including: doctor of medicine and TV presenter

Dr Kevin Fong; Ivan Hollingsworth, parent trustee for the Children’s Heart Unit Fund; Alison Shaw from the North East Futures UTC; Gordon Ollivere, chief executive of RTC North Limited; and Bob Paton, chairman of RTC North. Sir Bruce said: “The Academic Health Science Network for the North East and North Cumbria has had some fantastic results and all this is down to remarkable hard work from visionary people. It’s down to collaboration and it’s down to the generosity of people who are prepared to share their ideas.’’

The Bright Ideas in Health Awards is organised

by NHS Innovations North, a service delivered

by RTC North with support from the Academic Health Science Network for the North East and North Cumbria.

“There have been fantastic results. All this is down to remarkable hard work” Quantum develops cancer drug Medical firm Quantum Pharma has developed a spray to relieve treatment side effects for cancer patients.

The company says the medication prevents and manages dermatitis caused by radiation, which can lead to skin inflammation and peeling.

The product, known as Mucodis Dermal Spray, has been overseen by Quantum’s Colonis division, which develops medicines.

It comes after the company released a Mucodis-branded mouthwash to alleviate sores caused by chemotherapy and radiation and a spray to counter mouth inflammation.

Quantum Pharma says the range is intrinsic to the NHS’s response to cancer treatment, and Colonis has an exclusive five-year distribution licence with an option to extend the agreement. Andrew Scaife, Quantum chief executive, said: “Radiodermatitis is unpleasant and painful and we are delighted to launch the spray to help treat symptoms.

“There is a clear unmet need for this type of relief and we are confident our products will have a significant effect on improving quality of life.

“We are excited by the potential the Mucodis range offers the NHS and patients.”

Earlier this year, Quantum, which employs about 250 people at its factory in Burnopfield, near Stanley, County Durham, revealed cancer work would form a crucial part of its future.

Speaking after annual results showed revenue was 13% up at £70m and adjusted pre-tax profit 75% higher at £10m, Mr Scaife added: “The response to Mucodis from clinical teams at hospitals has been extremely positive.

“We are gaining permission in hospitals for the product to be purchased for use and by the end of the summer expect to have gained permissions in hospitals covering 35% of patients diagnosed with cancer each year.”

Quantum supplies medicines to respond to unique prescriptions, with staff able to alter a drug’s potency, assess ingredients to counter allergies and change distribution from tablet to liquid form. It has a programme of more than 30,000 products, which include methadone reefers and treatments aimed at remedying vitamin deficiencies.

Scaife has tendered his resignation as a director of the firm for family reasons but has agreed to remain at the business’s helm until a new appointment is confirmed.

Quantum’s chairman, John Clarke, said: “Andrew has made a significant contribution to the group during the past seven years and has been instrumental to the group’s growth and strategic direction, and to its admission to AIM in 2014.’’

PROFILE Sunderland College

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Healthy outlook for skills When it comes to skills, Sunderland College is proving it has its finger firmly on the pulse, committing to providing its hundredth apprentice for a North East social and health care provider The college – which has one of the largest A Level provisions in the region and a growing number of apprentices on its books – is working in partnership with Sunderland Care and Support, Sunderland City Council’s former adult provider services that delivers support to vulnerable people with a wide range of needs.

Sunderland College supports the company with its apprenticeship programme which offers 64 places annually, covering subject areas from health and social care to catering and business support. All apprentices are offered an opportunity to complete formal training with the college and company and gain experience of working in a front-line service.

Sunderland Care and Support has already recruited more than 25 of these apprentices, many others have gone on to find full time jobs in the health and social care sector.

Ellen Thinnesen, principal and chief executive of Sunderland College, said that the close relationship being formed with Sunderland Care and Support was helping the organisation meet its skills needs, as well as providing opportunities for the next generation of social and health care professionals.

She said: “Social and health care is a sector in which there will always be a significant need, and it is important that we develop people who can meet the needs of the public, as well as the back of office support essential to the organisation and administration of the service.

“With a huge range of apprenticeship courses, we are able to supply skilled, bright minds across a range of subject areas, meaning we are effectively a one-stop-shop for organisations in the health and social care worlds. This has allowed us to build a strong relationship with many organisations in the North East that may well be looking for apprentices, or may wish to top-up the skills and qualifications of existing teams.”

The college – the largest provider of health and social care training in the North East - has signed a strategic partnership with Sunderland Care and Support, which will see it continue to enhance the organisation’s skills pipeline for the foreseeable future. It also works with healthcare

“We have been able to develop a really strong talent pool, with skilled, well-rounded young people joining the team and bringing with them unique skills that will help us to deliver a high level of care to people in Sunderland for generations” bodies including Northumberland Tyne and Wear, South Tyneside Foundation, County Durham and Darlington Foundation NHS Trusts; Sunderland City Hospitals; Age UK Northumberland; and NHS Business Services Authority.

Philip Foster, chief operating officer at Sunderland Care and Support, said: “We have been working with the college for two years, and the support they have offered to help us realise our ambitions as a business has been fantastic.

“We have been able to develop a really strong talent pool, with skilled, well-rounded young people joining the team and bringing with them unique skills that will help us to deliver a high level of care to people in Sunderland for generations.

“The training we have been able to offer existing members of the team through Sunderland College means that the whole organisation is growing its knowledge and therefore better able to help adults with specific health and social care needs to live the best life possible with our support.”

The college’s relationship with Sunderland Care and Support means that both organisations are up to date with the latest developments in their respective industries.

Mr Foster, who has been at the helm of Sunderland Care and Support since it become a stand-alone entity in 2013, said: “The team at the college can share with us all of the latest developments in terms of legislation that might affect us, like the apprentice levy for instance, and we in turn share the latest developments that might impact the subjects they cover, so the relationship works extremely well and keeps us both ahead of the game.

“We’re delighted with the support we have had from the college, and look forward to working with them in future to ensure that Sunderland Care and Support remains an organisation that invests in its workforce for the benefit of all of the people in the city who need our help.”

For more information about Sunderland College and the apprenticeship schemes it provides, visit www.sunderlandcollege.ac.uk.

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INTERVIEW

Special Feature: Life Sciences and Healthcare

INTERVIEW

Special Feature: Life Sciences and Healthcare

An appliance of science to change young lives Alison Shaw is working to bring about a revolution in science education in the North East, as she explains to Peter Jackson Alison Shaw meets me in the Crowne Plaza hotel in Newcastle’s Stephenson Quarter, where she promptly walks me to the door to point to something. It’s a nearby site that she’s eyeing greedily as the potential home for North East Futures, a new University Technology College, UTC, of which she is the strategic director. Her job is to lead the planning for the college, which was originally scheduled to open in September 2017, but which has been delayed for a year to ensure a suitable site is found for a building which will cost at least £10m. She sees the Stephenson Quarter as an ideal location.

“The point of it being here, is that it’s a business quarter and it’ll be exciting for the students to come to learn in what is a really cool business quarter,’’ she says.

The UTC’s closeness to business will be fundamental to it. It is intended that it should not only prepare young people for fulfilling careers in IT and Health Care Sciences, but that it should give those sectors much needed,

highly skilled workers.

“The alignment with the regional economy is really important to this UTC,’’ says Shaw.

“These are two smart specialisation sectors which are part of the strategic economic plan and which more widely fit into the industrial strategy for the UK. These are strong sectors which deserve to be funded to succeed and they will only be enabled to continue to grow if the pipeline of really skilled young people coming through is there.’’

She points to the favourable regional environment: the presence of Newcastle University’s Campus for Ageing and Vitality and its National Institute for Smart Data Innovation, NISDI; the Centre for Process Innovation; and the various Catapult centres.

“It has been really carefully planned to integrate into these kind of economic drivers in the region,’’ she says.

UTCs, which are government funded, teach 14 to 18-year-olds, with an emphasis on STEM subjects, and with the close involvement of

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local employers in both framing the curriculum content and in its delivery.

There are about 60 UTCs now around the UK, either open or about to open, including UTC South Durham, sponsored by Hitachi and Gestamp Tallent, which will focus on specialised manufacturing and engineering and which opens in September.

UTC students study the national curriculum, but also have a heavy emphasis on a technology - or technologies - specific to an individual UTC. Shaw is a teacher by profession and has spent 12 years as head in two schools, most recently at Seaton Burn College where she worked closely with businesses to expose students to entrepreneurship and design and to integrate an understanding of the workplace environment with the exam-driven curriculum.

She says: “I think a school for our time needs to do more of that in more of a sustained way, particularly in areas where models of work aren’t as visible for young people as they are in some other areas of the country or in particularly affluent areas of our region. It’s difficult for children to picture what it takes to find opportunity, grasp opportunity and be successful.

“In order to do that right across the region I think that it takes partnerships that go beyond school as well as within school and that’s what I think UTCs can do because of the way that they’re designed.’’

She adds: “In order to have the kind of impact, I think we need it designing in such a way that employers are involved from the start and are bound in to continue in a sustained manner, designing the curriculum, delivering the curriculum, exemplifying with great projects and applications why what the students are learning is relevant and how they can apply it.’’

She points out that while mainstream education does great things and that some of its one-off interventions are worthwhile, it cannot fully address the problem so that, for example, only 20% of students doing physics A-Level are girls and that hasn’t changed in 30 years, and still only 10% of the nation’s engineers are women.

“That suggests a new approach is needed,’’

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INTERVIEW

Special Feature: Life Sciences and Healthcare

she says. “That’s why I think this offers a fantastic and really exciting opportunity.’’

The predicted number of students at the college, when it’s full, will be 600, drawn from a catchment area which includes, Tyneside, Northumberland and County Durham. There will be about 35 teachers with a team of support staff. The UTC’s main sponsors are Accenture, The Academic Health Science Network and University of Sunderland. It also has the support of partners which include, among others, the NHS Trusts and companies such as biotech company Glythera, Kromek, and Datatrial.

The working day for the students will run from 8.30am to 5pm and the curriculum will be based on a core of GCSEs in maths, statistics, computing, physics, chemistry, biology, English, and English Literature.

“Then every young person will do courses which will help them with thinking skills, with entrepreneurship, with some sense of philosophy and design, which is critically important,’’ says Shaw. “In Key Stage 4 they will spend two full afternoons a week on projects which integrate their learning, so they’ll need design and creativity just as much as they’ll need STEM subjects to apply their learning in an integrated way to the projects and problems that our employers set them.’’

The students will meet the requirements of the national curriculum but the involvement of employers will be central to their education.

Shaw explains: “If they are covering a particular project in chemistry, for example, the likelihood is that they’ll do some of the experiments and apply some of the learning within a business setting or by the staff involving people from some of our partner companies to explain how those things play out in reality. It brings the curriculum to life in a different way.’’

The involvement of the employers will also include mentoring, internships, masterclasses and lectures. In particular they will plan and deliver projects working in partnership with the teachers and, along with the teachers they will be an audience for the students’ work.

“There’s really strong evidence from across the world, particularly from the US, that

“No young person leaves the UTC without a very clear destination to go on to”

that understanding from children, when performing for a real audience, on real work makes magic and they always, in my experience, come up with the goods,’’ she says. The college building will contain a business innovation hub for young businesses supported by the employer businesses with mentoring and expertise.

“Part of what these tenant businesses pay us, instead of being rent, will be mentoring and showing young people what it feels like to have the energy to set up a business.’’

Shaw says she is comfortable with describing North East Futures as a school, but she adds: “It will feel anything but like it’s a school, partly because there will be business people coming in and out of the building all of the time. One of the reasons we are so determined to have it right in the centre of the city is that we would like it to be an environment where people from the world of work don’t just come to help our children, but that they come to because it’s of benefit to them.

“It won’t feel like a school, it will feel like a really exciting business environment.’’

The students won’t be given homework but will be expected to work hard during the longer school day on assignments and collaboratively in groups. They won’t wear uniform but business clothes as appropriate to different environments.

Shaw says: “The children who will want to come to this school need to understand it’s going to be hard work and, while not limiting them to IT careers or healthcare science careers at all, it will still bring work to life.’’

In addition to the core qualifications of GCSEs and A-Levels there will also be available specific, career-oriented vocational qualifications which are not necessarily identified in school league tables but which are identified by employers as being important in their sectors.

What will they go on to do?

“The first thing to say about that is that a top – if not the top – performance indicator, is that no young person leaves the UTC without a very clear destination to go on to,’’ she says firmly. “So the notion of Neet [Not in education, employment or training], which unfortunately the North East has a very high proportion of – we will have none.’’

She envisages that some of the students will follow a strongly academic route with a significant part of the sixth curriculum being A-Levels, enabling a “significant proportion’’ of the students to go on to university. She points out that UTCs elsewhere in the country are sending more students to university than the national average.

Typically the students will go on to do science and applied science degrees and perhaps degree level apprenticeships.

“It’s likely that significant proportions of them will go on into IT related, bio-tech related and natural sciences with a strong focus on vocational routes in the areas that they have experienced,’’ she says. “Others will undoubtedly go on to apprenticeships at a range of levels and we would expect them to be doing advanced and higher apprenticeships in large numbers.’’

The UTC is governed by a board of trustees.

Its next objective is to secure a site for the new college and an announcement is expected by the end of summer. This will be followed by marketing and raising awareness of the college among potential students and their parents and Shaw believes the six-week period of statutory consultation will provide a perfect opportunity for this. Once a funding agreement is in place, building can begin, along with the recruitment of a principal, deputy principal and some administrative staff.

“I’m really excited by this and absolutely driven by a sense of what we can achieve,’ says Shaw. n

INTERVIEW

Special Feature: Life Sciences and Healthcare

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PROFILE Bionow

We live in changing times but some certainties prevail The global market size for healthcare is estimated as: Medical Diagnostics $55b, Medical Devices $400b, Pharmaceutical $1000b and growing...

The North East is home to almost 200 businesses engaged in the Life Sciences & Healthcare sector including 92 core companies conducting R&D or manufacturing in pharmaceuticals and biotech, contract research, diagnostics, medical technologies and analytics. There are a further 99 companies in the specialist supply chain.

This diverse business base constitutes around 19% of the sector in the North or about 5% of the UK sector as a whole. The region has key pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities including GSK (Barnard Castle), MSD, Piramal and Aesica. Teesside is home to Japanese owned Fujifilm Diosynth with world class biopharmaceutical manufacturing and the UK’s National Biologics Manufacturing Centre is based at CPI, Darlington. GSK is investing over £350m in bio-manufacturing facilities at Ulverston, Cumbria and £92m in an aseptic sterile facility at GSK Barnard Castle. The sector in the North East has 7,200 employees and generates an annual turnover of £1.1 billion of which 95% is exported with record levels to the EU. The North East has a strong academic, research and public health care system. Newcastle University has world-class capabilities in the life sciences with strong, basic science that translates to clinical research for the benefit of patients.

There are centres of excellence in ageing, personalised medicine and digital healthcare.

Durham carries out world leading research in Biotechnology, Ecology and Agritechnology.

Sunderland’s state of the art Pharmacy School was first established in 1921.

THE NORTH IS HOME TO 1000 LIFE SCIENCES AND HEALTHCARE COMPANIES ranging from global pharmaceutical companies – ten global pharma companies have significant facilities in the North of England – through to SMEs and early stage spin-outs. Together, the northern life sciences businesses employ 38,000 people, generate £10.9bn per annum in turnover

Dr Geoff Davison, CEO, Bionow

Dr Diane Cresswell, Executive Director, Business Development, Bionow

“Membership of Bionow has provided High Force Research with valuable networking opportunities in the life sciences resulting in a number of promising collaborations. I have no hesitation in recommending Bionow if you are looking to make lasting connections within the sector.”

BOB REDFERN, MANAGING DIRECTOR (RETIRED), HIGH FORCE RESEARCH and constitute around 25% of the UK life sciences sector. With such a strong and vibrant business base plus a concentration of research-intensive Universities and centres of world-class clinical excellence, the life sciences sector in the North is a key pillar of the Northern Powerhouse.

BIONOW – THE VOICE OF THE NORTHERN LIFE SCIENCES SECTOR Bionow is a specialist business development and services company at the heart of life sciences sector here in the North of England. With 280 Members, primarily across the North but including about 40 from further afield, Bionow supports business growth, competitiveness and innovation.

There is a very complex value-chain comprised of many companies at the smaller end of the SME

spectrum, operating in challenging technology areas with long routes to market. Bionow’s activities and services help to de-risk the business environment for the smaller companies and we also deliver a tailored service to larger companies. We have the active support of our Corporate Patron AstraZeneca also Allergan, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Fujifilm Diosynth, GSK, Piramal Healthcare, Qiagen and Seqirus.

Bionow is a founder Member of United Life Sciences, the national organisation that represents 1300 life sciences companies across the UK. Bionow is very active in the public arena, influencing and lobbying on behalf of our Northern sector, including regular, in-depth supplements that are distributed with the quality press. There is great benefit

PROFILE Bionow

in the northern companies standing together, supported by Bionow. Working alone, the North East and Yorkshire regions lack critical mass – when aligned with the North West the Northern Powerhouse has international scale and excellence in life sciences.

“The North with its research, clinical and business base is ideally positioned to increase its share of the global healthcare market and to also attract high-value foreign investment. But we have to get the message across with a clear, strong voice,” (Geoff Davison, CEO Bionow) Our mission is to help life sciences businesses in the North to compete on the global stage.

Members can also streamline other essential expenditure with Bionow’s specialist financial services including insurance, pensions, foreign exchange and R&D funding support delivered

by Chubb Insurance, Ludlow, Money Mover and Abbey+ respectively.

Information at your fingertips: The Bionow website is the portal to News, Events and Jobs and the Northern Life Science and Healthcare Directory is packed full of potential partners, customers and suppliers across the North.

In addition, the 1000 organisations listed in the Directory are comprehensively key-worded and searchable on BionowB2B (www.bionowb2b.co.uk)

“Participation is the key. To do more for the North we need more companies and organisations to ‘buy-in’ and existing members to ‘buy-more’ - particularly in the North East and Yorkshire.”

DIANE CRESSWELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AT BIONOW

HOW DO WE DO IT? With passion. The Bionow team is passionate about the North, its capabilities and its potential in the global field of human health. Bionow operates on a not-for-profit, commercial basis and notably receives no public funding. Our income is derived solely from membership and sponsorship, together with income generated from Bionow events. Our membership model provides a very clear focus on the needs of our members and sponsors.

In March 2016 Bionow celebrated 5 years of trading and in that time we have established a national profile, a significant membership base and an unparalleled array of services and events for the cluster and in particular our Members, without whom we would not exist.

MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS Make your money go further Our preferred suppliers offer excellent quality, service and pricing to Bionow Members and share our exciting vision for growth in the North. SRG can support all technical recruitment and in August we launched our new Specialist Purchasing Scheme – open to all Members of Bionow – enabling your business to access ‘big company’ discounts on your laboratory consumable purchases from specialist suppliers including Fisher Scientific.

Access the North’s World Class University base We work closely with our University Sponsors, including Newcastle, Durham and Sunderland in the North East and also Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool and Lancaster supporting collaborative links to SMEs to assist on the long path to commercialisation.

Bionow also facilitates student placements: summer placements, postgraduate internships and year in industry with companies across the North. Everyone benefits, the student gains valuable work experience and insights while the company gains highly skilled extra resource to complete a project. It is of course an opportunity to spot emerging talent for when your business needs to recruit.

USE OUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES IT’S THAT SIMPLE

BIONOW EVENTS – NOT TO BE MISSED Bionow’s high-profile events run across the North of England attracting international and national speakers and over 1500 delegates each year.

2016 BIOFOCUS The 2016 BioFocus Life Sciences and Healthcare Conference took place on 15th June at the Centre for Life in Newcastle.

Over 120 delegates heard about the latest technologies, innovations, key sector initiatives and funding opportunities.

BIOCAP 2016 29th September 2016 Alderley Park Conference Centre, Cheshire The fifth annual BioCap Conference, will bring together international investors, companies who are seeking finance and those who have a track record of raising finance.

BIOINFECT 2016 3rd November 2016 Alderley Park Conference Centre, Cheshire A major 1-day conference looking at the critical issues relating to the development of new antiinfectives and the endemic problem of resistance.

BIONOW ANNUAL AWARDS DINNER 24th November 2016 The Mere Golf Resort & Spa, Cheshire Now in its 15th year, the Bionow Awards showcases the very best of this world class sector. Join over 400 senior executives in a celebration of success with 10 industrysponsored prize categories.

Come and Join Us: Sponsorship and Exhibition Opportunities Available.

To find out more

For further information go to

www.bionow.co.uk/membership/joinbionow.aspx

www.bionow.co.uk/events

Contact: joanne.mccarthy@bionow.co.uk

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LIVE DEBATE

THE VOICE FOR BUSINESS DEBATE

The issue: What is the nature of the skills challenge in the Life Sciences sector in the North East and how do we address this?

Alison Shaw: Opened the debate by welcoming the participants and explaining how North East Futures is intended to help tackle significant skills shortages, particularly in Life Sciences and digital sectors, which, while a national problem, are magnified in the region. “I think our system is letting young people down because it’s not helping them to understand what the opportunities are and then it’s not preparing them well enough for those opportunities. I don’t think it’s appropriate to blame education providers, I think it’s much more appropriate to look forwards and to find a way, which we haven’t yet in this country. Other countries have, where technical education has a high status and works very closely with employers, productivity is higher and youth unemployment is very significantly lower.’’

She added “I would like to know, when we’re up and running, what you would like to be able to say about the young people who are coming out of the school, about what difference the school is making and why you might be proud to be associated with this school.’’ She pointed out that North East Futures was part of a nationwide movement of University Technical Colleges, UTCs, which hope to be exemplars of high

quality partnership between employers and educators. “The thing I feel most strongly about is the need for us to engage sustainably with the employers. There are many superb initiatives going on, but how to we sustain it and scale it.’’

Dale Athey: Explained that Orla Protein Technologies is a university spin-out company, focused on biotechnology and protein engineering and most of its customers are international. “We are looking to grow and one of the challenges we face in the short term is to access the skills that we need to make that transition.’’

David Simpson: Explained that Glythera is a biotechnology company that moved from Bath to Newcastle. It works with the majors but is also developing its own product pipeline. “We’ve been through the challenges of bringing on board a technical team and it is challenging. We accept the challenges because of the type of product class we work on and that we have to bring people in relatively early in their life cycle of training and that’s fine. Where we really struggle is with the senior level execs and that’s a real challenge. If I had one real need: from an employer and our company’s perspective, it’s engaging [young people] early enough. You

need to have that level of engagement early in a student’s life, it’s too late once they’ve come out of university.

Jo McCarthy: Explained that Bionow is a membership organisation for businesses in the Life Sciences and Health Care sectors. She said: “I visit businesses across the North East and they are often lamenting their inability to recruit and also to retain the correctly skilled people. As well as the lack of engagement of younger people in STEM subjects and graduates not being work-ready, my personal bugbear is the softer skills that you need to be able to deal with people. People can be customer facing from day one and that’s not always addressed and given due attention.’’

Prof Michael Whitaker: Said that his background was in research but had a strong interest in business. He said: “I was really keen to get involved with the school because there’s a dimension missing in education, which is its relevance. People learn a lot in school about this that and the other but they don’t really quite understand why they’re learning it.

What we need to do in this school is to show the relevance of what they are being taught and you can only do that by having employers involved in that. The important thing tonight is to think about how businesses can help us

LIVE DEBATE Special Feature: Life Sciences and Healthcare

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TAKING PART

“Our education system is geared up for measuring As to Cs, not necessarily other skills that kids might have” provide that relevance.

Emma Banks: Explained that Datatrial is a software technology and clinical research company working in specialist supply chains, particularly in clinical trials. She described the frustration of interviewing candidates who lack softer skills and employability skills. She added: “I don’t think it’s entirely clear what the opportunity is for young people and our education system is geared up to measuring As to Cs and not necessarily other skills that that kids might have that are not valued in school.’’ She said her business needed a range of people with different skills, but “ultimately I need people who can talk to a customer, who’ve got good communication skills and who can potentially sell and those are things that are just not coming through our education system’’.

Hans Moller: He said that he had been chief executive of one of the largest science parks in Scandinavia in Lund in Sweden. He explained that there was no skills gap in Sweden and had been surprised to find one in the North East. He suggested that it was important to tell young people and their parents about the career opportunities in various sectors in the North East economy. “Many times it is the parents who are holding back young people. The young people can have a high aspiration and a big dream but often they are held back by the family. We need to be better at communicating the opportunities that are already here in front of them.’’

Sally Old: Said that Arcinova is a new contract research and development company

based in Alnwick with some 80 clients ranging from small biotech to big pharma.

The company works with local schools, giving work experience and hosting school visits to help them put their learning into context. “Breadth is a key thing for us, as well as depth. We’ve recruited some graduates recently and we’ve not had any problems recruiting but students often have focused on the modular side but not necessarily putting it in the broader context and having transferable building blocks for other parts of the pharmaceutical industry.’’

Arun Harish: Explained that he was responsible for strategic business development at CPI, which is a founding member of the UK’s catapult system, as part of the high value manufacturing catapult and its role is to translate research into commercial propositions, acting as an innovation integrator. He emphasised the importance of collaboration and of multiple disciplines coming together and everything underpinned by digital technology. “In a nutshell we are trying to enable disruptive innovations, innovations that will change the way we do things. Two of the things I would like to discuss this evening is, how can we inculcate the ideas around entrepreneurship within the younger generation early in their careers and how can we get them to think about what the future might offer them. Ten or twenty years from now there are likely to be scenarios that we can’t today clearly see, though we can see the trends. How can we translate that into any form of curriculum in the UTC?

Alison Shaw – strategic director North East Futures UTC Roy Sandbach – director of the National Centre for Ageing Science and Innovation Derek Marshall – chief workforce strategist and planner at NHS Health Education North East David Simpson – chief executive Glythera Professor Michael Whitaker - Professor of Physiology in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Newcastle University Arun Harish – corporate business development manager strategy and futures CPI Emma Banks – chief executive Datatrial Margaret Rowe – associate dean business engagement Northumbria University Faculty of Health and Life Science Sally Old – head of regulatory and DPMK Arcinova Stuart Penny - operations director, High Force Research Dale Athey – chief executive Orla Protein Technologies Sam Whitehouse – chief operating officer QuantumDX Group Joanne McCarthy – regional head (North East and Yorkshire) Bionow Hans Moller – innovation director at North East LEP Caroline Theobald – BQ chair Venue - Crown Plaza BQ is highly regarded as a leading independent commentator on business issues, many of which have a bearing on the current and future success of the region’s business economy. BQ Live is a series of informative debates designed to further contribute to the success and prosperity of our regional economy through the debate, discussion and feedback of a range of key business topics and issues.

The second thing is cross disciplinarity or multi-disciplinarity. I think the future is multidisciplinary, history was multi-disciplinary, so how can we get the next generation to be multi-disciplinary?’’

Roy Sandbach: Outlined his experience in various research and development roles in industry and academia. He pointed out that the North East is poorer in many respects than the rest of the UK with high levels of people

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LIVE DEBATE Special Feature: Life Sciences and Healthcare

not in education, employment or training at around 21% of 18 to 24-year-olds and at A-Level the lowest level of A* and A grades in the country and also fewer young people studying sciences. “This is despite the fact that at primary school children love the stuff we do, it’s at secondary school that somehow they start not to love the stuff we do. That’s down to us, somehow we’ve just got to get out there and change that concept in a disruptive innovation way. That’s why I got involved with the UTC as a governor.’’

Stuart Penny: Explained that Durhambased High Force Research is engaged in organic synthesis, making active pharmaceutical ingredients for clinical study, manufacturing organic electronic molecules and nanotechnology. He said: “The kind of people we employ have to be very flexible in their approach to chemistry and the way they look at chemistry and the way they do chemistry. We don’t have a problem employing chemists per se and most of the chemists we’ve employed recently have come from North East universities.’’ He added, however, that the company has difficulty in finding analytical chemists, who have not only to be good scientists but also highly accurate with good basic skills such as weighing and pipetting. They also have difficulty in recruiting for QA, quality assurance which calls for a wide range of knowledge and skills. “Basically, I think, if you are going to turn out a good chemist, you need to be a good scientist beforehand.’’ He said he believed vocational training could help to make a good scientist with the necessary practical skills. To support such vocational training, he called for a greater availability of part-time science degrees, but universities can only do this if industry supports it by sending people to study for the degrees.

Margaret Rowe: Explained that she was attached to Health and Life Sciences at Northumbria University with responsibility for enterprise activity, partnership working, collaborative research, entrepreneurship, employability and enterprise. The university had made its greatest improvement in employability in students in the last two years by collaborating closely with employers and focusing on softer skills. She added: “My absolute passion is looking at skills challenges for the life sciences, in the widest concept of life sciences. It is about

“I think the future is multi-disciplinary, so how can we get the next generation to be multi-disciplinary?” ensuring young people have the aspirations, they have the skills-set and that we are looking at widening participation across students.

Students frequently don’t see that there is any other choice than going to university or getting a job and the big push now should be around apprenticeships, higher apprenticeships and degree apprenticeships and universities need to do a lot more. We should be working with you to co-create programmes reflecting what is required in the future workforce.’’

Sam Whitehouse: Explained that Newcastlebased QuantuMDX makes hand-held diagnostics. The company was originally based in South Africa and chose Newcastle as giving greater potential for growth with a huge talent pool available in all the northern universities.

He said: “Giving people an opportunity for me is more important than anything else. I like to go out, I’ve done four Brownie events in the past year, I’ve gone to Walkergate Primary School and set fire to magnesium.’’ But he also emphasised the importance of engaging with parents. “We can organise and make available as much as we can, but it comes down to individual levels sometimes and I think opening people’s eyes is most important. For people at school now, the jobs they’ll do when they graduate from university don’t exist yet.’’ He said that the business community should be more open and businesses willing to share candidates’ CVs.

Derek Marshall: Explained that Health Education England is an NHS organisation responsible for education, training and the nature of the future NHS workforce. He said: “I’m really keen about the UTC for a number of reasons. I’m determined that we maintain the NHS in the North East as being the best performing NHS in the country. I’m also passionate about getting people’s mind-set away from just doctors and nurses. We employ about 3,000 scientists in the North East in the NHS.’’ He said it was necessary to work closely with the universities and to look at the ongoing training of the workforce. “We also need to future-proof not just the scientist community but the whole healthcare community with some of the life sciences and the wider science knowledge. If we don’t do that, the NHS will fall over in 10 or 20 years. What I’m passionate about for the UTC is not just embedding the science in the 150 students going through each year but in spreading the wider message that life science is not just for scientists, it’s for the whole population.’’

Caroline Theobald: “We’ve had a lot of discussion and a lot of things have come up.

There are holes all over the place, problems at universities, problems at secondary school, problems in leadership, recruiting people at chief exec level. There’s an awful lot of problems, how do we all work together to start finding some solutions when the target

LIVE DEBATE Special Feature: Life Sciences and Healthcare

is moving? Is it about collaboration and skills sharing? Is that a practical way of starting?’’

Derek Marshall: “We always get put off by things always changing and things will always change. I think we’ve got to head off in the direction that we think it’s going to be and accept we might meander on the journey a little. We’re sometimes risk averse about taking that first step.’’

Alison Shaw: “Part of what we teach children is that things are always changing and that they have to adapt to that and be excited by it.’’

Margaret Rowe: “Youth are prepared for change but we are not as good at transitioning to change and unfortunately we are the ones who are shaping and leading that activity. We do need to collaborate but we do need to be looking to the future and how we bring people together to collaborate as multiple organisations.’’

Sally Old: Emphasised the importance of openness and flexibility and encouraging students not to be frightened of change.

Alison Shaw: Praised employers such as Arcinova which were keen to help. “But what we are trying to do is interfere more in the way the curriculum is designed and then deliver.’’ She explained that North East Futures was looking for a long-term engagement from employers. The current curriculum is not enthusing students nor providing the required level of skills. “They should get their exams but they should get their exams as a by-product rather than as a sole defining factor.’’

Roy Sandbach: Said there was no high profile individual champion to deal with the skills challenge in Life Sciences. Also he pointed out that when traditional industries such as shipbuilding or chemicals were thriving, they were highly visible. “It was where school children and their parents could see there were jobs. We have a very different business infrastructure with very few really big places but which are not commonly described as big places to work and we have some really fantastic smaller companies but that isn’t a coherent, visible grouping. I’d love to think we could recreate that sort of ‘sense of big’ by a grouping of people, so we didn’t all talk separately and go into schools separately but that we did a big combined effort with parents.’’

Caroline Theobald: “Could Bionow do that Jo? Could you bring everyone together?’’

Jo McCarthy: “As you were talking, I was thinking Northern Powerhouse because that’s the thing that’s at the forefront of my mind.

We don’t know what’s going to happen as a result of Brexit and whether it’s still going to be on the agenda. As a northern organisation it’s becoming one big Northern Powerhouse noise-making machine to let people know we are here and that we are formidable.’’

David Simpson: Referred to Alison Shaw’s point about making sure that businesses got what they wanted from the UTC. “We’ll have dinner in 10 or 15 years’ time and we’ll tell you.

That shouldn’t preclude us from going hard into this now and making plans for where we should be. Let’s get them [students] engaged at this point and let’s drive the enthusiasm. I recruit for enthusiasm time and time again.’’

Emma Banks: Expressed concern that some teachers charged with employer engagement have never worked in industry and “that’s a huge issue’’. She added: “I think fundamentally our education system kills enthusiasm. And I’m married to a teacher. Our biggest challenge is, first of all, awareness of what the opportunity could be – you could love science and not work in a lab and that’s really important. You could work in social media, you could work in writing, you could work in sales, you could work in the press, there’s so many opportunities. We have to fundamentally get in there and enthuse kids about what we do.

Arun Harish: Said that science education in the UK is much more applied and practical than in India where it is highly theoretical and students leave university without practical knowledge and skills. “I was also under the impression we had something interesting here,

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if you are saying this is not interesting, what is interesting?’’

Emma Banks: “It’s emotional engagement. `If you learn this, you’ll get that mark’ approach is applied, but it’s not emotionally connected.’’

Dale Athey: “If you’re a scientist, what does that mean? Is that highly regarded? I don’t think it is in this country.’’

David Simpson: “If you’re a scientist, you’re classed as a bit geeky.’’

Sam Whitehouse: “If you took kids down to Cambridge and showed them what some of these guys have achieved – and some of them have achieved millions – and tell them that’s what they could achieve.’’ He said they should be made aware of the possible rewards of being a scientist, such as high pay and travel opportunities. He also emphasised the importance of continuing to learn and having mentors.

Alison Shaw: “I want to come back to Arun’s question: when is it exciting for children? To come back to what we really want your help with, because it’s really what makes it exciting, it’s, first of all, having very high expectations of young people and putting a stop to this notion that a young person is `unbelievable’ and `amazing’ if they do something exceptional, because most of them are capable of doing exceptional. The times when I see children most excited and most engaged are when they’ve been given a project by somebody who’s not a teacher. As a teacher I would facilitate the way they address it and they will do that project and, because it’s for you, they will do it to an exceptional degree, right at the edge of their capabilities because you’re going to come back and tell them if it’s any good. That is when they get excited.’’

Roy Sandbach: “What is the nature of the skills challenge in the Life Sciences sector?

You could argue that it’s a vocabulary or an articulation question for young people, we are not speaking to them in their language often.

For example, I suspect that some of the really exciting things that go on in Life Sciences we never put on Instagram, we never have them on Snapchat, we certainly don’t communicate effectively with them through Twitter. If there was one thing that we could all do, even the people around this table, we could start to say to ourselves, `I wonder how we get a thousand young people to follow us to be aware every

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LIVE DEBATE Special Feature: Life Sciences and Healthcare

day of the things that we do’. It’s getting the projects that we do into their lives. We have to use their vocabulary.’’

Caroline Theobald: “Hans, in Sweden you said there is no such thing as a skills shortage.

Why can you do it in Sweden and we can’t?’’

Hans Moller: “Lund is a town of 80,000 people. Part of that town is a university with 40,000 students, there’s a science park with 15,000 people working in it every day, in a town of 80,000 people. If I ask anyone, even small kids, `Where’s the innovation going on in this town?’ everyone would point to the science park, it’s so obvious to people and they will know someone who works there. In this region it’s not obvious at all.’’

Sam Whitehouse: Pointed to the danger of having one big employer but suggested that phoenix companies can grow from the ashes of a big employer closing or relocating. He also said that too much emphasis was placed on bad news stories.

Hans Moller: “We have to communicate with young people but also with their parents.’’ He suggested a campaign targeting parents with young children.

Alison Shaw: “There are people in the know who can talk about the economic strengths of the region. I’m certain that the largest proportion of people won’t know that, so there’s a hugely important communication task.’’

Sally Old: Raised the issue of women being underrepresented in science.

Derek Marshall: Pointed out that the chief scientific officer in the NHS is a woman but it is not publicised.

Roy Sandbach: “Last year’s president of the Royal Society of Chemistry was a woman and the head of the Royal Academy of Engineering is a woman.’’

Sam Whitehouse: “There are more female graduates than males.’’

Prof Michael Whitaker: “The crux of this to me is that this is about industry-led change and that’s the most difficult thing. We don’t have industry-led initiatives.’’ He gave the example of the region’s pharmaceutical companies that manufacture a third of all the pharmaceuticals made in the UK but this sector is not visible. “We have to find a way of making it visible.’’ However, industry will not lead. “It’s visibility and leadership. Leadership shouldn’t come from the LEP or from me but

“The crux is that this is about industry-led change and that’s most difficult. We don’t have industry-led initiatives” from you, or us. We have to think how we can galvanise and start doing it and not just talk about it.’’ He added that the UTC could be a catalyst, helping to change the way people think about education. He went on to argue that there could be benefits on collaborating over finding and recommending talented individuals and if it does happen then it should be made more visible.

Caroline Theobald: “I’m conscious that there are six business leaders here who all stand at the front of their own networks. If the six people in this room said ‘we want to engage with this and we will bring two or three people from our network,’ that might get somewhere towards the industry network that we are talking about. It’s about leveraging their networks.’’

David Simpson: Said giving support to schools was not a problem but that making it exciting was the challenge. There was also the question of justifying to investors the time devoted to supporting schools.

Emma Banks: Said it was a question of making what the sector does real and tangible to young people.

Prof Michael Whitaker: Said it was in the interests of investors to have a skilled workforce which they need for their companies to flourish. “If everybody says

somebody else should do it, then it will never get done.’’

Dale Athey: Agreed that it would be difficult to justify the time spent to a board.

David Simpson: “Investors don’t care. It’s about the return they are going to get on a five-year plan. My job is to find the talent.’’

Arun Harish: “Larger corporates have a clear CSR agenda.’’

Roy Sandbach: Said R&D expenditure in the North East was a fraction of that in other regions. “We just don’t have those big companies that bring that big business R&D, which is one of our problems because then our work becomes invisible.’’ He added that regarding peer group activity there was a sense that if activity could be “catalysed with a bit of money’’ and personal support it could achieve results. He cited the example of PubhD, a student initiative where PhD students meet in a pub and explain their research to each other. He suggested that those present could get young people in their organisations to meet and discuss their work, or they could sponsor sixth formers or undergraduates to do the same thing in the context of Life Sciences. He added: “We don’t have to do much other than be there for them.’’

Stuart Penny: “I could name three or four people from our company who’d be willing to do that and that’s a mixture of PhDs and graduates.’’

Margaret Rowe: “We have STEM ambassadors who go to the schools, working with the schools. But I think we are not really very good at publicising it and schools don’t always know about it. I think universities need to be the conduit between businesses and schools because we link with all of the organisations. Universities must do more.’’

Sally Old: Suggested a virtual version using a chatroom or YouTube.

Caroline Theobald: “The digital community has self-organised. They get together and there are all these networks that have sprung up.

Emma Banks: “The UTC is not set up to send people to university is it?’’

Alison Shaw: “It will send a significant proportion to university and probably higher than the average but many will have either started apprenticeships or will be being prepared for apprenticeships.’’

LIVE DEBATE Special Feature: Life Sciences and Healthcare

David Simpson: Asked how often students ask for help in finding a business.

Alison Shaw: Said not many because of a failure to properly explain the labour market to young people. She added that science teachers in schools are under considerable time pressures and “are completely disconnected from what’s going on in the world of work’’.

Prof Michael Whitaker: “I think many teachers suffer simply from lack of materials and not just knowledge.’’

Derek Marshall: Emphasised the importance of the visibility of an industry’s presence.

Described how when he was at school in Wallsend everyone knew there would be some kind of job available in the shipyards.

“Somehow, we’ve got to get the message out that says there’s a vibrant Life Sciences industry in the North East. We are not going to have a physical presence but you’ve got to have that virtual presence.’’

Emma Banks: “As an outsider my perception of the region is that it’s quite insular. It’s not very cosmopolitan and it’s behind other parts of the country in terms of its global outlook. I live in a village in South East Northumberland with a huge Procter & Gamble site and I can guarantee that most of the kids living in that village will think that they will end up at that Procter & Gamble site as their job because of its visibility and also because, from a parents’ point of view, most of those people have never left that village and their parents lived there. I think there’s a social and demographic challenge here to try to enlighten people to what’s outside.’’

Derek Marshall: Argued that this could be used to the region’s advantage in retaining talent.

Roy Sandbach: Said it was necessary to find hooks that interest people. He added that two things that influence children are that they can earn a lot of money, if they work hard, and they are attracted by and interested in invention.

Caroline Theobald: Asked if there were any other points people wanted to make in terms of addressing the skills gap.

Alison Shaw: “Something that’s coming through loud and clear for me is communicating.’’

Emma Banks: “Can we keep it simple? If you want to engage business it has to be simple.’

Margaret Rowe: “It’s about true engagement and make the message simple and people will get involved and we, who are sitting round the table, have to cascade what we have been talking about to our colleagues and signpost what we are trying to achieve and then for people to commit and offer some sort of support.

Jo McCarthy: “There is a lot of overlap in Life Sciences industry organisations and there’s work to be done there to simplify and streamline that to free up some resource that could then work with the UTC. We are perfectly placed to do something like that.’’

Derek Marshall: “It comes back to presence.

In the NHS we don’t sell enough that we have scientists. Sometimes people think, `Oh, it’s being in a lab’. It’s not. A lot of health care science is patient facing. We are looking to change that ethos. We’ve got to change what people think of science as a profession. Some people will see it as a bit geeky and it’s not.

It’s hugely exciting and hugely innovative, hugely challenging and hugely wealth making – if you get it right.’’

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Roy Sandbach: “We’ve talked a lot about visibility and awareness and communication.

These are three things which the region has given a message to central government on in the past few weeks. The region has said to central government, `You haven’t convinced us that there’s anything going on that is relevant to us’. I know from engagements in government and the civil service that this is a window of opportunity for us. If we are very clear about what we want to do in the Life Sciences sector from the point of view of popular awareness and popular communication, I suspect there’s a bit of an open door in London to support that for this region. Why? Because they know that there’s a disconnect with the population at large.’’

Prof Michael Whitaker: Thanked everybody for attending the event. “I’m pretty sure, from what people have said tonight, that the UTC can count on you to help us and we’re very grateful.’’ He added that the ambition was that the UTC should be more than a school but should also be an IT and Life Sciences skills hub. n

The skills gap – insights into tackling the problem The Live Debate gave North East Futures UTC an excellent opportunity to share with a wider audience what we intend to achieve by setting up this new school for the North East. The coming together of diverse organisations with an interest in supporting a flourishing Life Sciences sector in the region made for an interesting and valuable discussion, with many new insights on what needs to be done.

If we are really to generate better health outcomes for the region - an objective upon which everyone agreed – as well as to create more and better jobs in this high value sector, we must innovate and use technological and scientific advances to the full.

Pressures on the school curriculum can easily eclipse the very skills and attributes which employers most need our young people to develop. How to keep projects relevant and current so that young people are motivated by exciting employment opportunities gave much food for thought. Employers were invited to have ambitious expectations of students – our young people always rise to the task when presented with a real problem to solve which excites their sense of purpose. Everyone agreed that communication is essential for success in this and other key growth sectors in the region. Our communities need to know which sectors can make the North East great. We are a region with much to be proud of, but real economic strength can only be realised if we all work together to make a coordinated assault on the low skills economy which still predominates. We must make sure the population at large understands where the high skill jobs are and how to get into them. Schools and employers combining their efforts and sharing their expertise have a huge role to play in this task. North East Futures UTC is deeply grateful to the people who gave up their time to be with us and share their expertise.

We call on new employers who wish to join our project to get in touch!

INTRODUCTION TO THE ACADEMIC HEALTH SCIENCE NETWORK North East and North Cumbria

The Academic Health Science Network for the North East and North Cumbria (AHSN NENC) is dedicated to improving healthcare, driving wealth creation and promoting research participation across the region.

We facilitate interactions across our Member Organisations, the regional NHS Foundation Trusts, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), Universities and a wide range of other stakeholders including companies, charities, Local Authorities and multiple other stakeholders. We act as an honest broker in areas that require collaborative working. Our membership and remit to provide system-wide integration allow us to bring the appropriate influences and mechanisms to bear on the programmes we take on. We work by brokering interactions and seeking inclusive, collegiate approaches to significant common problems. By working in partnership with our Member Organisations we ensure that areas of best practice and innovation are identified and disseminated, at pace and scale, regionally and nationally.

Wealth Creation and Health Improvement have a common requirement for innovation. We support all aspects of innovation across healthcare from creating a culture that is supportive of innovation to disseminating and adopting novel practices and devices once they are proven. Our Member Organisations

WE HAVE HELPED COMPANIES

BY CREATING AND HARNESSING A CULTURE OF INNOVATION...

ENQUIRIES SUBMITTED

COMMERCIAL PLANS DEVELOPED

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY POLICIES DRAFTED FOR MEMBER ORGANISATIONS

IDEAS ASSESSED

COMMERCIAL PLANS IN PRE-COMMERCIAL DISCUSSIONS

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY FILINGS (eg. PATENTS) ON BEHALF OF MEMBER ORGANISATIONS

WEALTH CREATION SO FAR WE HAVE ACHIEVED...

JOBS CREATED

£368,647 FUNDING FOR SMEs SECURED PRIVATE SECTOR INVESTMENT £123,814

understand their role within the regional economy, and through the AHSN NENC, have been very supportive of mobilising their collective expertise in support of economic growth. All of this fits with the 2011 HM Treasury Plan for Growth in terms of contribution to the UK economy by the public sector and it is reflected in our licence with NHS England. We have, since our inception, focussed our Wealth Creation programme on mobilising the assets within our NHS Trusts, CCGs and Universities to attract and grow business within the

JOBS SAFEGUARDED

COMPANIES PROVIDED WITH GRANTS

region. Economic growth can be driven by ideas and products that arise from within the NHS which have commercial potential and also through the development of products and services by companies through access to NHS expertise and markets. To address this, we have developed and successfully implemented The Innovation Pathway. This is our way of articulating the bespoke services that are provided in a cohesive and efficient fashion to NHS organisations and industry. We are

COMPANIES ASSISTED

GROSS VALUE ADDED IMPACT OF THE NHS INNOVATIONS NORTH PROGRAMME

delighted that The Innovation Pathway will be implemented beyond our region and that it is set to be adopted by the national AHSN Network. The case studies that follow illustrate The Innovation Pathway in action and the testimonials are evidence from our stakeholders that it is both needed and valued.

www.ahsn-nenc.org.uk @AHSN_NENC

0191 208 1326

sizes, to access grow their business. vation Pathway we ervices covering on lifecycle from dea through to its n of commercial nt benefit.

NIHR Diagnostic Evidence Co-operative Newcastle Working with industry to evaluate evidence of clinical validity, clinical utility, cost-effectiveness, and care pathway benefits of in vitro diagnostics to facilitate market entry.

THE INNOVATION PATHWAY

cess of The Innovation The Innovation Pathway enables companies, of all sizes, to access NHS expertise to elivery partners. grow their business. Through The Innovation Pathway, we provide bespoke services de thesecovering services a lifecycle from conception of an idea through to its the entirein innovation eventual realisation of commercial success and patient benefit. Critical to the success able fashion. of The Innovation Pathway are our delivery partners. Together we provide these services in a seamless and scalable fashion

Finance

Markets

£ Intellectual Property Clinical Trials

Culture

Ideas

twork: mbria ment

nd Advice guide an rocess.

‘Our programmes such as Medicines Optimisation, Mental Health and Atrial Fibrillation bring together expert practitioners, opinion leaders, patient groups and colleagues from the The Newcastle in upon Tyneand outcomes.’ pharmaceutical industry to deliver demonstrable improvements pathways Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Beth McArdle, Health Improvement Programme Manager The Medical Physics Directorate

and commercialisation services to help innovative products and services to penetrate the healthcare market.

innovation pathways. We work with many we have found the interaction with the AH valuable, strategic and mutually productiv Professor John Simpson, Director NIHR D Co-operative Newcastle and Professor of

Success

Adoption

Brokering

Commercialisation

MedCon Providin and kno Technolo advice a highly su clinical i disciplin

Evaluation

South Tees NHS Foundation Trust The Medical Physics Directorate has a strong track record of successfully developing and evaluating novel medical devices. Their remit as a partner in The Innovation Pathway focussed upon the “With our NHS partners and through The Innovation Pathway we is primarilywww.ahsn-nenc.org.uk provision of support to SMEs based are providing the national exemplar of NHS the NHS working with SMEs City Hospitals Sunderland @AHSN_NENC and larger companies to promote economic growth’ in the South Tees region.

Foundation Trust 0191 208 1326 Dr Nicola Wesley, Director of Innovation and Wealth Creation Sunderland Eye Infirmary provides support to SMEs

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PATIENT SAFETY COLLABORATIVE safety and quality improvement. They will continue to support the PSC work and have established a regional forum on quality improvement.

Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSC) are national programmes to improve the safety of patients and ensure that continual patient safety learning sits at the heart of healthcare in England. The collaboratives empower local patients and healthcare staff to work together to identify safety priorities and develop solutions.

In the North East and North Cumbria, we deliver the programme via: Supporting projects on key national priorities Serious Infection Sepsis And Community Acquired Pneumonia; North East Pressure Ulcer Reduction Collaborative; Deteriorating Child (Resilience):, Acute Kidney Injury and Falls Prevention. We also funded projects in mortality review and behaviour change intervention (ThinkSAFE).

Building capacity In partnership with Health Education England North East, we established a practitioner-led patient safety and quality improvement Executive Team. The members of the Executive Team are all recognised regional and national leaders in the field of patient

Stakeholder engagement and dissemination We continue to engage with key healthcare stakeholders and collaborate with other AHSN’s Health Improvement programmes. We have organised masterclasses and events attended by more than 500 healthcare staff.

Alignment to national initiatives We are closely aligned with the national Health Foundation’s Q Initiative and support the dynamic community of Q Members in the North East and North Cumbria. We are also aligned with the “Sign up to Safety” national campaign.

For further information please contact Tony.Roberts@stees.nhs.uk (Programme lead) or andreia.cavaco@ahsn-nenc.org.uk (Programme manager)”

www.ahsn-nenc.org.uk @AHSN_NENC

0191 208 1326

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CONNECTING HEALTH CITIES

The Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA) is a key part of the Government’s commitment to creating a “Northern Powerhouse”, and was triggered by George Osborne’s £20 million pledge to create Connected Health Cities (CHCs) in the North.

The NHSA members for the North East are Newcastle University, Durham University, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the AHSN NENC. The NHSA aims to seed the world’s first civic partnerships that exploit data fully to: • Drive public sector reform for better health and care, by providing actionable information to: - Researchers (leveraging and feeding - National investments) - NHS commissioners - NHS and social care providers and their partners; - Public health professionals and local authority planners; • Fuel region-wide health science that citizens trust; and • Accelerate business growth for the digital health revolution.

Four northern regions (North East and North Cumbria (NENC); Greater Manchester; Leeds and Humber; and the North West) have been designated ‘Connected Health Cities’, powered by combinatorial health innovation centres (“Arks”) that assemble data, experts and technology at critical

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mass, producing intelligence to power continuous improvement in health and care. ` These four initial CHC regional pilots will be used as a proof of concept initiative; to understand and design the CHC and “Ark” methodologies, to test further care pathways can feasibly be redesigned, to determine how to effect organisational change within local health economies and to develop a sustainable model for integration with the NHS. The aim of the CHC pilots is to demonstrate that the CHCs initiative, and the implementation of Arks, reduces the time to implement change in care pathways in light of health-based evidence and research (a “learning health system”).

If successful, the size and scale of CHCs will be expanded beyond this initial pilot study phase, so as to deliver analytical support and products to the NHS and other organisations which would benefit from this insight. £20M funding was awarded from the Treasury to the NHSA, with the programme starting on 1st January 2016 for a three year period.

Newcastle University was the designated ‘host organisation’ for the contract on behalf of the NENC region, with a contract award of £4M. Through to the end of 2018 CHC for NENC will support development of 4-5 research programmes across the region based on civic relationship (academic, health, local authority), which will test the concepts and build an evidence base for Connected Health Cities. The first NENC call for proposals has been issued and initial awards will be announced this month.

The Executive Team for CHC for NENC are – • Dr Joe McDonald: Director • Dr Nick Booth: Chief Information Officer • Mark Walsh: Operations Director For further information please contact mark.walsh@connectedhealthcities.org

“Through to the end of 2018 Connected Health Cities will support development of 4-5 research programmes across the region based on civic relationship (academic, health, local authority), which will test the concepts and build an evidence base for Connected Health Cities”

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