Dorset Industry Collaboration Summit helps businesses collaborate with health and social care sector

The Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) event helped forty businesses and innovators come together with the local health and social care sector with a view to progressing their ideas.

16/04/25

The programme explored future supply chain opportunities which address the pressing health and care needs of Dorset’s population.


Kathy Wallis, Associate Director, Wessex Health Partners said: “This event provided a real opportunity for innovators to understand the wide range of support and opportunities to collaborate that exists within Dorset. What Wessex Health Partners helps to bring to the table is a deliberate managed process to diagnose the need of the innovator, understand how best to support them, and guide them to the right people for that support.”


Gemma Snell, Programme Manager, Health Innovation Wessex, said: "It was good to have the various innovators in the room and to be able to help connect them with different partners locally - this is already leading to future collaborations. Health Innovation Wessex is able to support them with making progress." 


The event was open to:


  • Health and care industry professionals and SMEs
  • Innovators seeking collaboration within Dorset
  • Social care providers
  • Academics engaged in health and care research
  • Health and care research and development communities

Attendees had a unique opportunity to connect with key local and national organisations, including:


  • Bournemouth University
  • Health Sciences University
  • Arts University Bournemouth
  • NHS Dorset ICB (Integrated Care Board) and ICP (Integrated Care Partnership)
  • NIHR (National Institute for Health and Care Research) representatives
  • Wessex Health Partners
  • Health Innovation Wessex
  • NHS Dorset – Dorset Innovation Hub
  • Innovate UK
  • British Business Bank
  • Barclays Eagle Labs

Participants also took advantage of one-to-one mentoring sessions with industry leaders and healthcare stakeholders.


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