AHA Link-2024-2 July-August - Flipbook - Page 2
UNITED KINGDOM
Introducing our guest of honour
Our guest speaker at our 2025 ceremony is Richard Stubbs, chief executive of Health Innovation
Yorkshire & Humber, and also chair of the national Health Innovation Network, bringing together all
15 health innovation networks across England.
The Network aims to deliver national impact,
working alongside the NHS to understand the
challenges faced in delivering patient care, and
to support the introduction of new, innovative
ways of working that can both improve care, and
reduce costs for the NHS. It works with innovators
to support them in navigating the complex health
and care landscape and helping to create and retain
jobs through the economic growth that comes from
building a vibrant health innovation ecosystem.
Since 2018 the work of the Health Innovation
Network has benefitted over 3.8m patients and
generated almost £2.6bn for the UK economy. In
addition to these roles, Richard holds several varied
non-executive and voluntary roles. He is a longstanding member of the NHS Assembly, a board
member of NHS England’s Accelerated Access
Collaborative and a member of the NIHR Strategy
and Engagement Board. Richard is passionate
about driving policy level changes and programmes
to accelerate NHS improvement and transformation
and has recently been part of both the NHS’s
Innovation Ecosystem Programme advisory group
and the 10 year health plan working group for
research, life sciences and innovation supporting
the government in building a health service fit for
the future.
Richard is a fellow of the Sciana Health Leaders’
Network, a programme which brings senior leaders
with diverse professional backgrounds from across
Europe together to share the skills and knowledge
needed to make change happen in complex
systems and address current and future challenges
facing leaders in health and healthcare. He is a
member of the International Health Federation’s
Global Scientific Committee which curates their
annual World Hospital Congress. He has also been
an advisor to Healthcare UK, providing strategic
input into the UK Department for Business and
International Trade’s healthcare export activity.
Commitment to diversity and inclusion runs
through everything Richard does, and he has twice
been recognised by the Health Service Journal in
their Top 50 BAME Powerlist as “one of the BAME
figures exercising the most power and influence
in English health policy.” As Co-Chair of the NHS
Confederation’s BME Leadership Network, he
plays a central role in increasing diversity within
NHS leadership. Richard is passionate about the
importance of greater diversity within innovation
and has conceived a national programme which
seeks to address this issue. This work led to a series
of pledges which have been adopted nationally by
the health innovation networks.
Proud of his Yorkshire roots, Richard is an Honorary
Professor at Sheffield Hallam University and chairs
the advisory board for their Advanced Wellbeing
Research Centre (AWRC), a £14m research
institution established to develop innovations that
will improve population health and physical activity
and is a visiting fellow at the university.
In his spare time, he manages an under 13’s football
team. Richard lives in Sheffield with his wife and
two children.
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