Driving local growth through health and life sciences

Prof Graham Lord, Executive Director of King’s Health Partners, reflects on the recent Lambeth Growth Plan Roundtable and the role SC1 London Health and Life Sciences Innovation District aims to play.

I was delighted to be invited by Councillor Holland to speak at the recent Lambeth Growth Plan Roundtable, hosted at the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering.

Through King’s Health Partners, our partners are committed to pioneering better health for all, together.

The London Institute for Healthcare Engineering exemplifies the importance of bringing together diverse expertise and talent in unique spaces to translate innovations into benefits for patients.

In opening the event, I reflected on my experiences in Manchester and the development of Sister. Innovation districts have the potential to play an important role in driving sustainable urban development and fostering economic growth. To be successful, partnerships that span local, regional, community-commercial, public-private, and local-national boundaries are crucial. The practical involvement of universities in these partnerships is also vital, leveraging academic strengths and expertise throughout the innovation journey.

Lambeth already has many of the necessary components of the innovation ecosystem to drive inclusive growth. Through our partnership in the SC1 London Health and Life Sciences Innovation District, we will accelerate our world-leading strengths including in MedTech, Biotech, and Neurosciences.

To be successful, the growth plan needs to be focused first and foremost on the opportunities for local people. This potential was emphasised in the recent My Life SC1ence campaign, which was developed by local people and recently celebrated through a launch at the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering.

Reflecting on the conversations throughout the roundtable, it is clear it will take time to realise our shared ambitions. However, now is a pivotal moment to focus our shared efforts. We have support from national government, regional alignment, and local consensus. Housing, prosperity, jobs, and the environment must be looked at inclusively as they are fundamental to everything we do. In this time of crisis, we must drive growth at scale, which can only be achieved through partnership.