This week we were delighted to take part in a visit by Dr Bola Owolabi, Director of Health Inequalities at NHS England and NHS Improvement, who was in the city to deliver a Birmingham Health Partners Seminar (catch up with the key points on this Twitter thread).
While here, Bola met with our CEO Gino Martini for an introduction to Birmingham Health Innovation Campus (BHIC) and the PHTA and following a short walk to see the build in progress, discussed how the development can become a local anchor site for tackling health inequality.
Working with Bruntwood SciTech and our partners including GBSLEP, BHIC and PHTA will deliver around 10,000 high-value jobs when complete, and we are committed to providing the education and training needed to support local people into these roles. We aim to encourage young residents to pursue STEM subjects in their secondary education and beyond; highlight the wide variety of careers available within life sciences and research; and provide practical experiences through work placements and internships.
In addition, we have embarked on a partnership with the Life House, a Selly Oak charity which delivers services that strengthen the local community, including a food bank, vocational and educational experience, and crisis support. Our recent donation of £5,000 to the charity underpins our plans for a long-term collaboration with the Life House.
Posting on social media after the meeting, Dr Owolabi said: “Worlds colliding wonderfully – the scale of our ambition to narrow the gap of health inequalities, meeting with a powerful vehicle in the form of Birmingham Health Innovation Campus, a great anchor in the community.”
Health inequalities – of access, understanding, wealth, gender, race and age, among others – need addressing with some urgency as we seek to learn the lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic. We greatly look forward to future collaborations with Dr Owolabi – listening, learning and finding ways to act on the insights shared by leaders in reducing health inequalities.
