On 5th March, we hosted the second South Yorkshire Digital Health Hub (SYDHH) plenary event at the AWRC. We brought together academics, community researchers, clinicians, industry, voluntary organisations and patient groups. Our aim was to share perspectives on digital technologies as a tool to improve individuals’ health, healthcare systems, and economic productivity, whilst reducing inequalities across the region.
The afternoon opened with a welcome from Associate Professor Márjory Da Costa-Abreu, followed by an update on the Hub’s progress and innovation pipeline from Professor Tim Chico. We were delighted to welcome Martin O’Neil, Deputy Director for Digital Diagnostics and Therapeutics at NHS England, who delivered a keynote on how digital technologies can help deliver the ambitions of the NHS 10-Year Plan.
We also heard from South Yorkshire community representatives Sahra Abdi and Lise Sproson, who spoke about research in the community, as well as perspectives from Professor Will Dixon from the Health Research from Home Consortium.
The second half of the event focused on Smart Health – the South Yorkshire Digital Health Hub’s ongoing project that combines data from wearables and smart phones with NHS data to develop a secure, research-ready data infrastructure. This will allow researchers and health professionals to use real-world and lifestyle data such as physical activity patterns and sleep, alongside NHS and community-generated datasets to contribute to better prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care.
Throughout the day, the importance of community, collaboration and co-design were emphasised; our attendees shared their ideas during facilitated table-top sessions, Q&A sessions, and during networking breaks. And of course, we had cake!