Dear Prime Minister,

We call upon you to invest properly in health research in the North of England.

Just £21 is spent per person on health innovation and research in the North compared to a £62 average in London, Oxford and Cambridge. This lack of investment helps to perpetuate health inequalities.

Poor health accounts for one third of the productivity gap between the North and the rest of the UK, at a cost of £13.2bn a year. Analysis by the Northern Health Science Alliance shows that this situation is getting worse and the gap is widening year-on-year as investment is increasingly centralised in the South East.

The North of England has more world top 250 universities than Italy, Spain and France combined, exceptional NHS hospitals and proven strengths in health innovation.

There is huge potential to support economic growth through working with innovators to address the needs of patients, support the creation of jobs and drive inward investment.

Our organisations are the anchor institutions in our cities and regional economies and, with health innovation investment, we can help in levelling up the North.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Séamus O’Neill, Chief Executive, Northern Health Science Alliance

Professor David Burn, Chair of NHSA and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University

Dame Jackie Daniel, Chief Executive, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS FT

Professor Paul Stewart, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Medicine & Health and Dean of the Medical School at the University of Leeds

Dr Liz Mear, Chief Executive, The Innovation Agency (AHSN for the North West Coast

Professor Graham M Lord, Vice-President & Dean Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health University of Manchester and Director Manchester Academic Health Science Centre

Professor Carol Holland, Deputy Dean Faculty of Health and Medicine, Lancaster University

Richard Stubbs, Chief Executive, Yorkshire & Humber Academic Health Science Network

Karen Partington, Chief Executive, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals

Professor Alison Metcalfe, Pro Vice Chancellor for Learning and Teaching and for the College of Health, Wellbeing and Life-sciences, Sheffield Hallam University

Steve Warburton, Chief Executive, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Professor Amanda Ellison, Director Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing, Durham University

Dr Nav Ahluwalia, Executive Medical Director and Director of Research, Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust

Professor Louise Kenny, Executive Pro-Vice-Chancellor Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, University of Liverpool

Professor StJohn Crean, Pro Vice Chancellor (Research, Innovation and Enterprise) Professor of Medicine in Dentistry, Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, University of Central Lancashire

Dr Nicola Wesley, Interim Chief Executive Officer, Academic Health Science Network North East North Cumbria

Dr Ben Bridgewater, Chief Executive, Health Innovation Manchester

Professor Karen Bloor, Professor of Health Economics and Policy, and University of York Research Champion for Health and Wellbeing

Julian Hartley, Chief Executive, Leeds Teaching Hospitals

Sir Mike Deegan, Chief Executive, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Elizabeth Moody, Executive Director of Nursing and Governance & Deputy Chief Executive, Tees Esk & Wear Valleys NHS Trust

Professor Chris Newman, Interim Vice-President for the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health, University of Sheffield.

Read the full story via the Yorkshire Post here