Leeds Teaching Hospitals to launch AI Lab
- 6 August 2025
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will launch an AI Lab this year, as part of its ambition to deliver the government’s 10 year health plan
- The plans are part of the trust's five-year innovation strategy which targets £140 million in research activity by 2030
- To help meet its goals, the trust will train 1,250 staff in research and innovation skills
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will launch an AI Lab this year, as part of its ambition to deliver the government’s 10 year health plan.
A research and innovation strategy, published on 4 August 2025, says that the lab will allow staff to analyse data using high performance computers and develop and evaluate AI tools to improve patient care.
The plans are part of the trust’s five-year vision, which targets £140 million in research activity by 2030, with a goal to recruit 100,000 research participants and deliver 350 industry collaborations.
Prof Phil Wood, chief executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “This strategy puts the NHS 10 year plan into action, showing how research and innovation can deliver tomorrow’s healthcare today.
“We’re preventing illness, pioneering new therapies, and creating high-skilled jobs that will make Yorkshire a global leader in health innovation.
“Research and innovation are at the heart of how we deliver and improve our services to patients and we are committed to ensuring every patient and staff member has the opportunity to take part in and benefit from research and the medical advancements they enable.”
The plan includes six strategic themes: digital, data and AI supporting the NHS shift from analogue to digital; health inequalities research targeting socioeconomic health gaps; devices and diagnostics advancing surgical precision; novel therapeutics developing gene therapies, immunotherapies and preventative vaccines; and patient outcomes research improving care through better understanding of treatment impacts.
To help meet its goals, the trust plans to train 1,250 staff in research and innovation skills, enabling more staff to contribute to breakthrough discoveries alongside their clinical roles.
It will also pioneer innovator passports, a system announced in the government’s 10 year health plan, that will allow technology that has been robustly assessed by one NHS organisation to be easily rolled out to others.
Commenting on the strategy, Tracy Brabin, mayor of West Yorkshire, said: “Leeds and West Yorkshire are a health innovation powerhouse, rivalling the Golden Triangle of London, Oxford and Cambridge, and ranking as one of the most attractive places in the world for HealthTech businesses.
“With world-class buildings and businesses boosted by our £160 million investment zone, we’re creating jobs, attracting investment, growing the economy, and transforming the lives of patients across our great region.
“This bold new strategy to invest even more in research and innovation will put our region at the heart of the future of the NHS, and the future of healthcare worldwide, as we work to build a stronger, brighter West Yorkshire.”
In May 2025, Leeds Teaching Hospitals launched a market engagement exercise to help shape plans for its proposed Innovation Village in the Old Medical School, which will serve as a base for digital health and MedTech firms in the region.
The 12.5-hectare Innovation Village, backed by Leeds City Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, is hoped to make Leeds a globally recognised centre for innovation and life sciences, as part of the West Yorkshire Investment Zone.
Meanwhile, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency launched a digital hub in Leeds in June 2025.
