Meet Jude Stone – the new Programme Director for the National Centre for Child Health Technology

Sheffield Children’s has appointed the Programme Director for the National Centre for Child Health Technology (NCCHT). Jude Stone will be leading the team of people who are bringing the National Centre to life and it’s a very exciting time for everyone at Sheffield Children’s and all the partners involved.

Jude has been part of the NHS for 15 years, and more than 10 of those years have been working here at Sheffield Children’s. When he’s not working Jude is a keen cyclist and runner, and you might have seen him taking part at our NHS 75 Parkrun events which happened in locations across Sheffield last year, including at the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park!

Throughout his career so far Jude has led on lots of exciting projects, often with a focus on transformation and innovation. He’s motivated by how we can make things better and has helped to improve the way we do things in the NHS by using quality improvement methods to build on systems and processes, often through a greater use of technology.

The National Centre for Child Health Technology will be a world-class facility on the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park which will focus on addressing some of the biggest health challenges of our time, including obesity, mental health problems, long-term conditions, health inequalities, disabilities and cancer. The NCCHT has received £22m funding from a combination of the UK Government Levelling Up Fund, the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and The Children’s Hospital Charity, as well as some funds from Sheffield Children’s as the organisation leading the project.

There really is nowhere else like the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, and the National Centre we’re creating is also the first of its kind! We’ll be based alongside the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre, the National Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine, the Canon Medical Arena, two schools with 3,000 students on site and lots of other unique organisations.

Once it’s built, the NCCHT will be a place where we will design, create, test and put into practice child health technologies, as well as providing excellent, state-of-the-art, patient care. There will be a whole host of world-class equipment and facilities at the NCCHT, and we’ll be sharing more about those very soon.

As well as our state-of-the-art equipment we’re especially looking forward to welcoming a unique ecosystem of people to work together all under one roof at the NCCHT. They will include world-leading research and innovation organisations, engineers, designers and experts in digital health, healthcare professionals, and most importantly children, young people and families. Together, we will use new technologies such as virtual reality, robotics, artificial intelligence and virtual care to change how we care for children and young people.

Jude said: “Creating a healthier future for children and young people is why we’re here and the NCCHT is a brilliant example of one of the ways we’re doing this at Sheffield Children’s. The NCCHT will bring children and young people into the centre of the process of developing and prototyping new technologies to improve care which I am really excited about.

“I’m also interested in wearables technology and patient reported measures which will be especially helpful in supporting children and young people who have long-term health conditions. The NCCHT is an incredible step in helping bring health care up to speed with the many other ways technology shapes our lives now.”

We can’t wait to share more about the development of the National Centre with you soon. For more information head to www.NCCHT.com.