Medilink Chief Executive Tom Elliott hosted the first NHS delegation to MEDICA – Leading International Trade Fair 2025 in Düsseldorf which has been nothing short of a triumph. Over four days, senior leaders from more than 15 NHS trusts joined forces with Medilink UK to showcase British innovation, forge global partnerships, and explore transformative solutions for the future of health.
From closed-door roundtables with international governments including Governor Tim Walz and Minnesota’s Medical Alley, to meeting with Siemens about future hospital build projects in the UK and being welcomed by German Federal Health Minister Nina Warken, this delegation demonstrated the NHS’s commitment to collaboration on a truly international scale. These conversations weren’t just symbolic—they focused on shared challenges like ageing populations, digital transformation, and workforce resilience, and how we can tackle them together.
Key themes that resonated throughout MEDICA 2025:
Innovation with purpose – Moving beyond incremental tech upgrades to redesign entire care pathways for better patient outcomes.
Global partnerships – Building sustainable relationships that deliver impact across borders.
Digital health as a catalyst – Harnessing AI, telemedicine, and integrated platforms to create smarter, more equitable healthcare systems.
With over 5,300 exhibitors from 70 nations, MEDICA – Leading International Trade Fair reaffirmed its status as the world’s leading platform for healthcare innovation. For the NHS, this was more than an event, it was a statement: we are ready to lead, learn, and collaborate globally to shape the future of care.
James Sumner, Chief Executive of NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group, said: “Digital innovation will play an important role in how we adapt to the changing demographics of the populations we serve. It was fascinating to see examples of work that are taking place internationally at MEDICA and attending as part of the NHS delegation was a great opportunity to discuss with peers from the UK how we can work collectively to innovate at pace.”
Professor Iain Hennessey, Director of Innovation, Consultant Emergency Paediatric Surgeon, Alder Hey NHS Foundation Trust commented: “Back from MEDICA with the UK NHS delegation hosted by Medilink, and one thing was impossible to miss: Europe knows it’s being left behind, and we need to move faster. You could feel the global acceleration. The US is scaling like mad, Asia is innovating at ridiculous speed, and the Middle East is building digital health systems from scratch while we debate governance frameworks. But Europe absolutely can compete. We have world-class clinicians, serious research depth, and health systems built on actual care rather than customer churn. What we lack is speed.
“If we want to lead again, we need intent, hunger, and the willingness to get uncomfortable. The unified NHS presence at MEDICA showed we can act collectively and that we have something unique to offer when we choose to move. The world isn’t slowing down. Europe needs to accelerate.”
Vee Mapunde, Director, NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Accelerated Surgical Care said: “Attending MEDICA for the first time as part of a structured NHS delegation program allowed us to focus on organizations and health tech relevant to our work, leading to more productive conversations. Given the event’s size, it would have been easy to feel overwhelmed. However, we successfully identified several technologies from the Wearables and Start-Up Pavilions to evaluate in our HealthTech Research Centre.”
The NHS leaders delegation included: Professor Ged Byrne, Global Director NHS England. James Sumner, Group Chief Executive Officer, NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group. Professor Helen Crimlisk, Executive Medical Director, Sheffield Health Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust. Dr Rose McCarthy, Head of Global Workforce Solutions, NHS England. Professor Tim Whittlestone, Chief Medical & Innovation Officer, Bristol NHS Group Trust. James Thomson, Group Chief Commercial Officer, NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group. David Shrimpton, Managing Director – Specialist Care, Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. Vanessa Reeve, Head of Consulting, Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. Emma Latimer, Executive Place Director, NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board. Jake Timothy, Consultant Neurosurgeon, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Professor Iain Hennessey, Director of Innovation, Consultant Emergency Paediatric Surgeon, Alder Hey NHS Foundation Trust. Vee Mapunde, Director, NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Accelerated Surgical Care. Dr Andrew Keen, Clinical lead for Innovation, NHS Grampian. Professor Terry Quin, National Specialty Lead for Ageing and Research, University of Glasgow & NHS Scotland. Dr Lawrence Kidd, Consultant Anaesthetist, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Lee Hannis, Senior Innovation Consultant, Alder Hey NHS Foundation Trust and Lois Rooney, Innovation Consultant, Alder Hey NHS Foundation Trust.
For more information, please contact Medilink UK at [email protected] or call 0114 232 9292. Alternatively, please visit our website at www.medilink.co.uk
Governor Tim Walz meets some of the UK NHS delegation
NHS delegates visit Baden-württemberg’s ‘THE LAND’ at Medica 2025