As the son of first-generation immigrants, I am a personal beneficiary of this country’s capacity to transform lives.
I saw that transformation built on the back of British science as a transplant surgeon, where it helped me change the lives of my patients. In combining clinical practice with parliamentary and latterly ministerial duties, I have felt the same urgency to contribute to the solution of this country’s most pressing challenges.
There is no greater privilege than serving in government. Doing this in a review where I had significant subject matter expertise as an NHS surgeon was a particular honor and responsibility. It was therefore particularly difficult when I came to the conclusion that despite the progress I was making as health innovation minister, something needed to be done to restore the wider lack of urgency and focus in the wake of the local and regional election results.
As Keir Starmer prepares to leave office, I am grateful for his commitment to turning our party around and getting to work on renewing our country. In doing so, he funded the NHS, challenging us to prioritize research and clinical trials and make the life sciences economy a key pillar of our industrial strategy.
Now, I believe the next phase of a Labor government needs a direct and intense focus on challenging the pessimism of the twin threats of nationalism and growth. Social cohesion, pride of country and economic growth are now inextricably linked. A new Labor government under new leadership can and must deliver on the promise of economic growth that touches every community.
The life sciences sector offers huge potential to fulfill this promise and we must recognize our National Health Service as the crown jewel of the UK if we are to fulfill this potential.
Since the beginning of the NHS, those working in our GP surgeries, hospitals and community clinics have worked hard not just to care for patients, but through a willingness to anticipate and fight for what lies ahead in medicine and healthcare. This led to developments in our science and research capabilities – particularly in the North – that gave us the first IVF baby in Oldham, trials of statins that prevented heart attacks in Glasgow and the world’s first genome testing for rare diseases in Newcastle. This wealth of clinical experience and longitudinal data serving a whole population means, in an age of AI, genomics and biotechnology, the NHS is primed to shine as an engine of economic growth for our life sciences sector.
But to do this, we need to get beyond the orthodoxy of what the NHS is and understand more deeply the talents that reside within it, up and down the country. In the case of our life sciences sector, this means realizing that while we punch above our weight on the global stage, being the third largest life sciences economy, we do so only because of the NHS. The NHS will also be a crucial factor in our ability to continue to grow further and faster.
Despite this, we continue to think very narrowly about a sector that will define the next few decades of economic growth. Life sciences and biotechnology should be viewed with the same optimism and sense of purpose as the green transition. It’s also a space where we can make big bets on AI. The sector is therefore ripe to be a central pillar of Britain’s re-industrialisation. The life sciences industry already contributes £34 billion to GVA and £147 billion to turnover within the UK, employing over 300,000 people.
However, its growth potential has yet to be realized. With the right investment in the right places and freeing our NHS from its business as usual consumer model, we could create 85,000 new jobs and add £16.3bn to GDP – achieving equitable economic growth in previously neglected parts of the country.
We also cannot allow the conversation about “good works” to stop at construction or care. Pathways to entry-level, scientific, technical and advanced careers and apprenticeships must be provided for young people. We can do this by setting a clear target for job creation in this sector.
We are already seeing examples of this growth emerging in the Northern Health Sciences Alliance. The North itself has inherent advantages with large research institutions and universities. With the right investment and Scotland’s involvement in the Alliance, we can achieve country-based economic regeneration. It provides an opportunity to build on regional anchor institutions such as hospitals, universities and biotech manufacturers to drive wealth creation that brings local dividends of scientific discoveries.
Biotechnology itself represents a huge growth opportunity. The UK already has a real comparative advantage in genomics, AI-enabled drug discovery, precision medicine and data-driven healthcare, but other countries are moving fast and at scale. We must meet this ambition, work harder and invest more to keep our biotech companies in Britain.
We are already seeing signs of this. UK Biobank’s move to Manchester will boost job creation across the North West. But we can do more. Why can’t the next generation of anti-obesity drugs be made in the UK? With the right support and encouragement, Britain’s world-leading drug companies can do just that – expand their footprint in the North, rather than setting up shop abroad.
The UK Life Sciences Council understands this too, convening their next council in Billingham at the Japanese biotech Fujifilm site – which I was privileged enough to open alongside the Duke of Edinburgh. This is the moment to take the practical steps to combine our life sciences ambitions and NHS plans like never before in Whitehall.
This approach will mean changing the way we look at national infrastructure. In the twentieth century, infrastructure meant roads, railways, power plants and hospitals. It must now mean data, research capabilities, scientific computing power and the institutions that support health innovation.
The NHS possesses one of the richest health data environments anywhere in the world. While we are clear that we will not compromise on our ownership of said data – used responsibly, securely and ethically, this capability could transform medical research, accelerate treatment development and give the UK a real competitive edge in the race to become a life sciences superpower.
As the great achievement of modern post-war Britain, it would be a disservice to Bevan and his peers for the NHS of 2048 to be the same as the NHS of 1948. As well as being more preventative, it could be more personalized and more integrated with advances in life sciences research and technology. The advances Britain owns and showcases to the world – just like with the NHS in 1948.
It is also no coincidence that this great British success story of the NHS and life sciences academia is supported by one of the most diverse workforces of any organization in the country. It is precisely its diversity of perspective—and patient population—that makes it the uniquely valuable asset it is.
There are real reasons for optimism, but optimism alone cannot overcome our challenges. We need political ambition as well as deep and authentic cross-Whitehall focus and political oversight of fast-paced delivery.
We are in an arms race, we must seize this opportunity to move beyond an over-reliance on the Oxford-Cambridge-London corridor and build a growth model that draws equally on the strengths, talents and ambitions of Scotland, the North of England and every part of our United Kingdom. The new South Cambridge train station feeding that corridor, in the new model of an integrated NHS and life sciences ecosystem, could be as much a destination as it could be the start of a new journey north stopping at Macclesfield, Manchester and beyond.
