Minister for Skills visits University of Birmingham for MedTech skills launch

The Minister of State for Skills has visited the University of Birmingham’s flagship life sciences innovation facility to learn about health and life sciences growth, during a launch of a new MedTech skills qualification.

Baroness Jacqui Smith visited the Precision Health Technologies Accelerator (PHTA) based at the University of Birmingham to launch a new Higher Technical Qualification (HTQ) designed to tackle the UK’s growing MedTech skills shortage.

During her time on campus, the Minister met researchers, innovators and industry partners who have helped shape the qualification, which aims to address the projected 145,000-person skills gap expected across the MedTech sector by 2035.

The visit marks the second Ministerial visit to the Birmingham Health Innovation Campus and PHTA in just three months, following Baron Stockwood’s tour in October – underlining national recognition of Birmingham’s health and life sciences district as a focal point for sector innovation.

Professor Gino Martini, CEO of PHTA at the University of Birmingham said: “Skills are the backbone of every effective innovation ecosystem. Birmingham’s health and life sciences district is home to world-class institutions, scientists and industry, but we only unlock its full potential if we have a workforce trained to deliver.

“That’s why qualifications like this matter: they create the talent pipeline our region needs, they widen access to high-value careers, and they ensure the breakthroughs being developed here can be translated into real-world impact for patients and the NHS.”

Baroness Smith began her visit with an introduction to PHTA and Birmingham Health Innovation Campus, a world-leading research hub, providing a home for innovation at the heart of Birmingham’s health and life sciences district. Professor Gino Martini, Chief Executive Officer of PHTA outlined how the district is becoming the UK’s largest integrated health and life sciences campus, expected to create 10,000 jobs and generate £400m GVA over the next decade. The Minister also heard how the University of Birmingham’s research strengths, diverse population and collaborative ecosystem are positioning the region as a national testbed for health innovation.

Helping entrepreneurs and spinouts

The Minister toured the medtech Makerspace, seeing first-hand how the facility’s prototyping and 3D-printing capabilities – as well as design support service and technical expertise – are ready to help entrepreneurs and spinouts to develop next-generation devices.

Representatives from four local success stories also spoke to the Minister about making an impact across diagnostics, digital health and therapeutics. The projects include:

• ExGenDx, a University of Birmingham spinout showcasing its latest rapid analysis device, with applications from healthcare to food safety and security
• Healome Therapeutics, a clinical-stage company developing new treatments for eye conditions which is fresh from completing a £2m investment round – and is also a University of Birmingham spinout
• WM5G, demonstrating how a 5G-enabled capsule endoscopy – known as ‘Pill Cam’ – could support at-home bowel cancer screening
• Dr Antonio Fratini, an Aston University expert in mechanical, biomedical and design engineering whose research focuses on medical instrumentation, physiological data processing and the development of diagnostic and biosensing devices

Baroness Smith also visited the University’s Clinical Immunology Services (CIS), where Dr Adrian Shields and the team demonstrated their work supporting diagnosis of autoimmune and neuroimmunological disease, blood cancers, immunodeficiency, infection and allergy. The Minister saw how CIS blends clinical excellence with industry collaboration and hands-on training to prepare the next generation of clinical scientists.

Launching the qualification, Baroness Smith said: “Medtech is transforming healthcare and these new qualifications will make sure people have the skills they need for the jobs of the future.

“I’m proud to see the West Midlands leading the way – working directly with employers to deliver opportunities that meet real business needs. By closing critical skills gaps, we’re not only opening careers for thousands of people – we’re helping the NHS cut waiting lists and deliver better care through innovation.”