Helping innovators navigate digital transformation in light of the NHS 10-Year Plan.
Insight 1: Building Digital Health Tools for the NHS
Medilink Midlands are delighted to be collaborating with Arise Innovation Hubs and Innovate UK in a series of events for autumn and winter 2025/26. The first of these looks at one the common themes in the NHS’s current 10-year plan, which aims to make the NHS fit for the future.
We will explore how to design and deploy effective, scalable digital apps tailored for NHS use — from prototype to practical implementation. Hearing from those who have successfully delivered into the NHS, those currently developing innovations and those who can support the innovator.
How do we create the reality of ‘a doctor in our pocket’
Agenda:
10.00am Registration & networking
10.30am Introduction and Welcome by Arise & Medilink Midlands teams
Event Chair: Dr Beverley Vaughan
10.45am Setting the challenge and how innovators step up – Dr Michael Watts MBA MBChB BSc (Hons) Young Health Tech Leader of the Year 2024, Health Tech World, Co-Founder and CEO, Blüm Health Ltd, NHS Innovation Accelerator Fellow, NHS England Clinical Entrepreneur & Mentor
11.15am Lightening pitches
- Matt Lavis, Head of Technology – SkyRocket Phytopharma
- Muntazir Panjwani, Director – Vibe Agency
- Uzma Sajjad, Founder – RescQ
- Jamie Tidman, CEO – ND Lens
11.30am Q&A
11.45am Support available to innovators
- Regulatory: John Connah – EG Technologies
- R&D Tax: Peter Clark and Younes Fegheh-Hassanpour – RCKPartners
- Innovate UK: Mike Herd, Ecosystem Innovation Growth Specialist
- Health Innovation East: Lamprini Kaftantzi, PHD – Senior Advisor (Commercial)
12.00pm Networking lunch
1:00pm Depart
Speakers:
Event Chair: Dr Beverley Vaughan, Arise Innovation Hubs Director
Beverley is a scientist by training, having worked in academia, start-up and business sectors, including Cambridge University Teaching hospitals, Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (SBC), Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and University of Oxford. Currently, Director at Arise Innovation hubs, part of Anglia Ruskin University, small but beautifully formed and importantly close but not within the golden triangle powerhouses. Beverley has been building a pipeline and success stories in the local environment has involved using knowledge of other clusters and adaptation to a different ecosystem. Collaborating with our community to harness the skills and talent in ARU to support them, on a bespoke and case by case basis. Proud to have delivered programmes such as ABOVE and learnt how being small can make you nimble but success relies on powerful and strategic partnership.
Dr Michael Watts MBA MBChB BSc (Hons), Co-Founder and CEO at Blüm Health
Michael is the Young Health Tech Leader of the Year 2024, an NHS doctor, NHS Innovation Accelerator Fellow and MBA Graduate by background. Over the last few years, he has been the CEO of Blüm Health, an award-winning digital health organisation that collaboratively works with Hospitals, SMEs and Large Corporates to design, build, and scale digital health software solutions, in the hope to empower public and private sector organisations to boost their digital maturity and unlock their innovative potential. Michael has extensive experience in supporting NHS organisations design, build and procure digital health ecosystems and understands the importance of digital inclusivity from a patient, workforce and organisational perspective.
Matt Lavis, Chief Technology Officer at Skyrocket Phytopharma
Matt is the Chief Technology Officer for Skyrocket Phytopharma, the distributor and Responsible Person for the Neuropad, Sudopad and Sudometrics products in the United Kingdom. Matt collaborates with clinical experts to lead the development and integration of innovative technologies that improve patient care and safety, overseeing product design, engineering, and regulatory compliance.
Matt has spent 25 years leading digital projects in both the private and public sector for diverse organisations such as HMRC, Department for Business and Trade, Sainsbury’s and Argos, with a recent history of delivering a number of key post-Brexit UK trade platforms.
Muntazir Panjwani, Co-Founder at Vibe Agency
Muntazir Panjwani is a co-founder of Vibe Agency, a tech consultancy that builds digital platforms across healthcare, education and the public sector. He leads product direction and delivery, building scalable solutions used by clinicians, staff, learners and administrators. With over a decade of experience, Vibe Agency has delivered learning and workforce platforms and operational tools for NHS organisations, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), Local Medical Committees and Training Hubs. Muntazir also mentors on the NHS Clinical Entrepreneurs Programme, supporting innovators to build new digital solutions in healthcare.
Dr Uzma Sajjad, Founder at RescQ
Uzma is an interventional cardiology trainee and somewhere between coronary wires and stents, found an interest in improving outcomes for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. The operational lead for RescQ – a digital solution to support to the forgotten bystanders, who step in during the life or death moments of a cardiac arrest, before help arrives.
Jamie Tidman, CEO at ND Lens
Jamie is an experienced CTO with a 13-year background in software development – 8 of which have included building language AI products in use within the NHS and other healthcare organisations. As CEO of ND Lens, Jamie is leading the development of a platform which uses AI to transform ADHD and autism assessments, cutting wait times and clinician workload. The accessible platform streamlines diagnosis, supports patients during delays, and helps health services tackle growing backlogs efficiently.
John Connah, Software Team Lead at eg technology
John has over 30 years of experience in coordinating cross-disciplinary teams delivering complex software projects to regulatory standards across multiple platforms and development environments. As an experienced software engineer, he offers guidance, mentorship and technical direction on complex projects across the product development roadmap. John leads the software group at eg technology and has worked across a broad section of industry including MedTech, BioTech, AgriTech and Consumer sectors. He has extensive experience in medical software, video and image processing and scientific and biomedical instrumentation control.
Peter Clark PhD, Co-founder and R&D Technical Director at RCK Partners
As an experienced R&D professional, Peter completed an engineering doctorate whilst working within a FTSE 100 central R&D department and subsequently worked in development engineering, refining precious metals, before undertaking management consulting work to implement innovation software. Having worked within one of Europe’s largest innovation funding providers, Peter has worked extensively on engineering, construction, manufacturing, and agricultural R&D claims. With a core background in R&D and Chemical Engineering, Peter can better understand the challenges encountered by his clients, applying technology driven solutions into corporation tax services on behalf of clients.
Younes Fegheh-Hassanpour PhD, R&D Manager at RCK Partners
Younes is Head of Life-Sciences and an R&D Tax Manager at RCK, with a D.Phil in Organic Chemistry from the University of Oxford and a Master’s in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from Queen Mary University. With over six years of experience as an R&D tax specialist, Younes also brings a strong background in industrial drug development. His expertise spans complex drug design, custom synthesis, and process development for regulatory-controlled substances used in Phase I and II clinical trials. He has extensive experience in GMP and GLP environments, including large-scale reactor development, early-stage steroid pharmaceutical formulation, and the synthesis of carbohydrates for targeted disease control. Younes has been closely involved in multiple stages of the drug development lifecycle, from strategy and implementation to hands-on execution of long-term R&D programmes.
Mike Herd, Ecosystem Innovation Growth Specialist
An experienced business advisor, Mike has worked with many hundreds of tech entrepreneurs supporting them to realise the potential of their businesses and themselves.
As part of his Innovate UK role, Mike works with stakeholders across Cambridge to develop the investor ecosystem and to identify and support new high-growth potential tech businesses.
Dr Lamprini Kaftantzi, Senior Advisor at Health Innovation East
Dr Lamprini leads international projects that support overseas companies in navigating the NHS, as well as helping UK companies achieve success in international markets. Additionally, she is the Oncology Lead, helping innovators and SMEs bring oncology innovations into the NHS and supporting providers with the implementation and evaluation of new solutions. Lamprini trained in biology and genetics before completing her doctoral studies on the clinical and commercial translation of advanced cell therapies. She previously worked as a market access consultant, and a Health Technology Assessor of medical devices and diagnostics for one of NICE’s External Assessment Centres.
Current positions:
- Innovate UK – Cambridge Ecosystem
- Senior Innovation & Growth Specialist / Investment
- Visiting Professor – Anglia Ruskin University.
- Chair of ARU’s Enterprise & Entrepreneurship External Advisory Panel.
- Board advisor for technology businesses.
- Holder of the Queens Award for Enterprise.
Mike ran the Sussex Innovation Centre, a leading UK technology business incubator for over twenty years. He acted as a guide and advisor for businesses at all stages from start-up to flotation. He built a high-performing team of advisors and business support staff – including a successful intern scheme. He developed and delivered award-winning entrepreneurial support programmes.
In addition, Mike led on new research commercialisation and student start-up initiatives at the University of Sussex.
Also, an author of novels based on the experiences of start-up entrepreneurs