Cutting-edge digital healthcare centre set to open in Gloucestershire

In a visionary collaboration between the University of Gloucestershire and Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, a cutting-edge digital research and development centre will be built in the county.

The Health Innovation Lab will work to provide and implement solutions to nationwide challenges the NHS faces with critical departments such as accident and emergency.

At the launch event forum, which took place at the University of Gloucestershire's Business School at Oxstalls earlier in June 2023, health leaders, key businesses, academics and students met with the new healthcare lab's key partners for the landmark project — Google Cloud, pharmaceutical company IQVIA, research organisation The Evidence Quarter, West of England Academic Heath Science Network and City University. 

Dr Polly Pick, director of business engagement and partnership at the university, said: 'The Health Innovation Lab is a landmark project that aims to drive digital healthcare transformation in Gloucestershire. 

'Through the expert collaboration of excellent people, ideas and a systems-based approach, the Lab will tackle pressing issues like the ‘front door’ problem (of trying to efficiently manage large numbers of people seeking care), ultimately creating a sustainable, patient-centric healthcare ecosystem.'

The university has vital links with the NHS, delivering several hundred new nurses and healthcare assistants annually and ranking top in the south west for its graduates' employment opportunities, with 100 per cent of students from its adult nursing courses going into jobs or further study.

Since 2018, the university's health and social care student population has grown 245 per cent. Its current and ongoing conversion of the former Debenhams building in Gloucester city centre will deliver a space focused primarily on healthcare, with its city centre campus expected to become home to 4,000 students and 350 staff.