Award winning company that helps train surgeons worldwide to set up skills programme for Liverpool City Region teenagers

AN award winning company that helps train surgeons across the world is set to offer teenagers an alternative way into life sciences after securing investment through the Liverpool City Region Innovation Zone.

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has awarded St Helens based Inovus Medical Ł1m; which they will match; to set up an embedded skills training programme for young people across the City Region.

The LCR Innovation Zone Programme is expected to create 8,000 new jobs and attract up to Ł800m investment to the Liverpool City Region over the next 10 years.

The 6 month skills programme will enable participants aged between:- 16 to 18 years old to expand their skillset, gain hands-on experience, and benefit from personalised mentorship during a placement at Inovus; with opportunities available in every department from engineering and product development to sales, marketing, and finance.

Following the pilot, the skills programme is set to be extended to 6 more sites across the City Region with a hub in each local authority area providing career opportunities and practical experience for young people.

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region said:- "Our Innovation Zone is all about driving growth and creating new opportunities across the Liverpool City Region. By building on our existing strengths and backing innovative companies like Inovus Medical, we're not only helping to fill the skills gap in critical sectors like life sciences, but also opening up new career paths for young people. I want to inspire the next generation. By giving teenagers the chance to gain hands-on experience in a growing industry and showing them what they can achieve, we're opening them up to a world of possibilities; and hopefully shaping the scientists of tomorrow. Through our Innovation Zone investments, we want to stop the brain drain, attract graduates and ensure that they can get into well-paid, high-skilled jobs without leaving the Region."

Surgeon and Inovus Medical CEO and Co-founder Dr Elliot Street said:- "It's an honour to be hosting the pilot of a programme that is very close to mine and my co-founder's hearts. We are keenly aware of the role luck and the right opportunities have played in our success. We're both from humble backgrounds and if we hadn't been given access to spaces where we could meet the right people and open the right doors, Inovus Medical likely wouldn't exist. It's important to us that we now give back and create new opportunities for talented and enthusiastic young people in our home base of St Helens and the wider City Region who might not otherwise have the chance to explore their potential and realise their ambitions."

Founded in 2012 by combining the talents of Dr Street and engineer Jordan Van Flute, Inovus Medical creates accessible and affordable simulators for surgical training and has a strong track record of training local apprentices.

Headquartered at St Helens Manufacturing and Innovation Campus and with a new US HQ in Florida, Inovus employs around 50 people with a further 50 fractional staff and interns and exports its technology to more than 80 countries; helping solve a global surgeon shortage and ultimately saving lives.

The skills programme is designed to inspire talented young people by providing new opportunities and career paths that might not otherwise be accessible.

Each trainee will be paired with a dedicated Inovus Medical mentor who will support their learning through a combination of work shadowing and practical experience.

On a mission to become the world's partner for surgical training through an evolving ecosystem of simulators and proprietary software, Inovus Medical is uniquely placed to help plug the skills gap identified by Health and Life Sciences businesses operating in the Liverpool City Region. Underrepresented roles include:- software engineers, product engineers, advanced manufacturing technicians, digital marketing, finance, and sales.

The LCR Innovation Zone Programme will help to address the Region's skill shortage and enable Inovus Medical to appoint a dedicated team which will work to ensure its skills programme is built with equality, diversity, and inclusion at its core.

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Cabinet Member for Employment, Education and Skills Cllr Marion Atkinson said:- Equipping local people with the skills to benefit from job opportunities created in the life sciences sector is a key part of the Innovation Zone programme. With a long standing commitment to training local people as well as producing innovative devices that are helping tackle a global shortage of surgeons, Inovus is a perfect fit to help plug the City Region's life sciences skills gap."

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Cabinet Member for Innovation Cllr Liam Robinson said:- "The Liverpool City Region is home to a thriving health and life sciences sector that's driving world-leading innovation and helping fuel the economy, while creating thousands of well-paid jobs. It's vital we develop local talent to take advantage of the new opportunities, which is why training is an integral part of our Innovation Zone programme. Inovus is a local, award winning company with training in its DNA; and we're delighted they are working with us to develop a new innovative programme to foster the next generation of talent and plug the life sciences skills gap."

The Liverpool City Region Life Sciences Innovation Zone Programme (LCR Innovation Zone Programme) is part of the Government's national Investment Zone Programme.

Edge Hill University awarded Ł2.5m to tackle mental health conditions in children and young people

EDGE Hill University has been awarded Ł2.5million to expand its expert research into the mental health of children and young people.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) announced the huge grant today, World Mental Health Day, as part of its Mental Health Research Leaders Award.

The University will establish a new research project, designed to engage with local health, public health and social care systems with a focus on St Helens, Knowsley and Wigan, and the wider North West, where there are large numbers of people living with mental health conditions, limited local mental health research and low participation in mental health research studies.

By working closely with local communities more people will have the opportunity to take part in mental health research, improving diversity in research studies, which in turn will lead to better treatment and support for the children and young people who need them most.

Project lead and Professor of Primary Care Greg Irving said:- "Children and young people in the North West face considerable mental health challenges. Anxiety and depression rates exceed national averages, Hospital admissions for mental health conditions among under-18s and self-harm rates in the North West are among the highest in the country, primary and secondary care services are overwhelmed and efforts to improve community mental health services for this group are hindered by financial constraints and service cuts. Everyone should be able to access the mental health support they need regardless of where they live. This new mental health research will ultimately help to reduce health inequalities because we'll have a better understanding of the causes of poor mental health and be able to tackle the issue in the places where people are most affected."

The project, supported by University of Liverpool, University of Manchester and the NIHR North West Coast Applied Research Collaboration, will establish a Centre of Excellence for mental health asset-based community interventions, serving as a hub for pioneering interventions and providing essential support to tackle complex mental health challenges in the North West and beyond.

Edge Hill University is 1 of just 2 institutions awarded funding under NIHR's Mental Health Leadership Award as part of a Ł27m investment in mental health research. The Institute's broader ambition is to establish up to 10 new mental health research groups to boost research in areas of the country where there is currently very little.

Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department of Health and Social Care and CEO of the NIHR, said:- "Mental health issues can affect any of us. We know that more researchers and research participants will lead to better treatments and support for people and communities affected by mental health issues. These Mental Health Research Groups will target the mental health research to the areas that need it most, meaning we can quickly start to make a real difference in key areas such as young people's mental health and addiction."

The Ł2.5m award will significantly strengthen Edge Hill University's international standing in mental health research, adding to existing sector-leading expertise: -

The Edge Hill-led Arts4Us project; in collaboration with more than 50 partners from academic institutions, NHS trusts, Schools and community organisations; was recently awarded Ł2.5m by UKRI to create a digital platform bringing together the best practice in the arts and arts therapies for young people and their families in need of mental health support.
The award winning Tackling the Blues programme; in partnership with Everton in the Community; has been a trailblazing project in the support of children's mental health through arts and sports for more than 10 years.

Edge Hill Professors Vicky Karkou, Andy Smith and Professor Michelle Howarth, and Dr Shaun Liverpool, were instrumental in securing the NIHR funding with Professor Irving.

Their combined areas of expertise include:- child and adolescent mental health and wellbeing, physical activity and green social prescribing in children and young people.

Stuart Dunne, CEO of Youth Focus North West is a key external partner, bringing community perspective to the team.

Edge Hill University is also home to a number of research centres which pursue innovative research into mental health, including:-

Research Centre for Arts and Wellbeing, led by Professor Karkou.
Centre for Mental Health, Sport and Physical Activity Research, led by Professor Smith.
EPIC Research Centre which focuses on primary and integrated care, led by Professor Irving.
Centre for Social Responsibility, co-led by Professor Howarth.

Together, as part of the University's commitment to shaping a better future, they are addressing some of society's most pressing problems, such as the current mental health crisis, providing expertise, developing solutions and enacting change.

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Award winning company that helps train surgeons worldwide to set up skills programme for Liverpool City Region teenagers

Edge Hill University awarded Ł2.5m to tackle mental health conditions in children and young people