Member Article

NW representatives call for increased engagement on devolution

Over 120 members of the regional SME and healthcare community joined the devolution debate on Friday (13th November 2015) at a seminar hosted by health recruitment specialist, max20.

Audience members were invited to Manchester Science Park’s Citylabs to quiz a panel of experts on matters surrounding devolution in Greater Manchester. How to facilitate increased engagement between the business and healthcare sectors as an integral factor in the overall success of devolution was at the top of the morning’s agenda.

Don Tomlinson, managing director of max20, said: “Manchester has become the vanguard of the UK’s devolution agenda and with responsibility for a £6 billion Health and Social Care budget it’s essential that the region’s major stakeholders have a platform for wider discussion. We want to accelerate dialogue between the SME community and the NHS to promote more innovative ways of working with those at the helm of transformation.”

Panellists Sir Howard Bernstein, Chief Executive, Manchester City Council, Dr Mike Burrows, Managing Director, Greater Manchester Academic Health Science Network, Ian Williamson, Interim Chief Office, Greater Manchester Social Care Devolution, Rachel Dunscombe, CIO, Bolton NHS Foundation Trust and Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, Simon Walsh, Procurement Director, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Gez O’Brien, co-founder and producer, Stardotstar were quizzed by audience members in a Question Time style format.

Sir Howard Bernstein, added: “What we’ve been doing so far is in spite of the system. We have a real opportunity to redefine and redesign public services at a local and more people-centred level.”

Ian Williamson, commented: “National solutions alone won’t solve the problems we face – it has to be driven by local leadership. There is a momentum for change and the pace is unprecedented – what we’re trying to do would normally take years.”

max20 will be hosting further events over the next 12 months as part of its involvement in the devolution debate. Please visit for http://devolutionmanchester.max20.com/ for more information.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Aimi .