Our Commercial Director Chris Hart (to the right in the adjacent photo) will be retiring at the end of February after a successful five years with the organisation.

Chris joined the East Midlands AHSN in 2014 and took a leading role in setting up our programmes linking industry with the NHS – including establishing Innovation Exchanges and driving the spread of projects such as the QbTest ADHD initiative, which was recently announced as the HSJ mental health innovation of the year.

Chris has also been active in supporting the wider AHSN Network, including the SBRI Healthcare programme.

Prior to joining the East Midlands AHSN, Chris worked for over 25 years in healthcare and technology industries across Europe and the United States.

Chris said: “I have really enjoyed my five years at the East Midlands AHSN. It has been particularly rewarding to support SMEs and innovators from concept through to successful deployment of their ideas into the NHS. Also building an East Midlands team to broker connections, address barriers and maximise the positive impact of innovation upon service efficiency and patient outcomes. Seeing the way some of these new products and services have been adopted and spread is really fulfilling.”

Following retirement, Chris is planning to spend more time indulging his passion for sailing by exploring the Mediterranean by sea but also on a part-time basis to continue to work with industry and the NHS to support the successful spread of innovation in healthcare.

Mike Hannay, Managing Director of EMAHSN, added: “Chris has had a huge impact on the way we link the NHS with industry – the introduction of Innovation Exchanges brought about a much needed interface between industry and NHS, social care and public health organisations. He’s really progressed the way we use our unique expertise to enhance cross-sector connections. I’d like to thank him for his contributions to EMAHSN and for enabling innovation to improve the lives of patients.”

East Midlands AHSN’s digital innovation lead Tim Robinson will act as Interim Commercial Director whilst Chris’ replacement is being recruited.