Innovation in Health Care

Tony is a practising frontline NHS consultant urological surgeon and Associate Medical Director at Mid and South Essex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Director of Medical Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Anglia Ruskin University, and the founder of four Med-Tech start-ups.  

In September 2014 became the first National Clinical Lead for Innovation for the NHS. In this role he provides clinical leadership and support in delivering improved health outcomes in England. He drives the uptake of proven innovations across the NHS, promotes economic growth through innovation, and helps make the NHS the go-to place on the planet for medical innovation.  

In 2015, Tony founded the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme (CEP). This has become the world’s largest entrepreneurial workforce development programme in healthcare and life sciences. The CEP has delivered over £1bn of inward investment into the UK and created over 500 life science companies. In the 2019 New Year's Honours list Tony was awarded the OBE for services to clinical leadership.  

Tony’s portfolio at NHS England covers the whole landscape of health and social care innovation. This currently includes leadership and oversight of programmes and policy areas including: The National Innovation Accelerator, the CEP, the patient entrepreneur programme, the dementia innovators programme, SBRI Healthcare, the NHSE/NICE prioritisation subgroup and updating NHS IP policy, Tech transfer and investment capability.

Sarah Hustache is a hospital executive and a graduate of the École des hautes études en santé publique (EHESP) in Rennes, France’s leading institution for the training of senior public healthcare administrators.

After an initial professional experience at the Metz-Thionville Regional Hospital Center (CHR Metz-Thionville), a major referral hospital in the Grand Est region, she continued her career at the Strasbourg University Hospitals (Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg), where she currently serves as Director of the Division of Finance Management, Information Systems, Clinical Research, and Innovation. In this role, she oversees strategic functions at the intersection of hospital performance, digital transformation, the development of clinical research, and the promotion of healthcare innovation.

She also serves as Administrative Director of the Grand Est Canceropôle (Cancéropôle Est), contributing to the coordination and development of regional initiatives in cancer research, innovation, and collaboration between healthcare institutions, academic partners, and research organizations.

Her career reflects recognized expertise in hospital governance, the structuring of complex projects, and leading organizational transformation within major public healthcare institutions. Committed to advancing the hospital-university mission, she contributes to strengthening synergies between management, research, and innovation, with a constant focus on excellence for the benefit of both patients and healthcare professionals.

Rune Holdt is a senior executive with a proven record in leading innovation, transformation and complex programmes across the public healthcare system. He currently serves as Co-Director of BETA.HEALTH and Director for Research & Innovation at Rigshospitalet (Copenhagen University Hospital), operating at the intersection of clinical practice, research, innovation and system-level governance.

Rune has a strong track record in building and scaling innovation infrastructures, spanning early-stage research and clinical translation through procurement, implementation and large-scale adoption in hospital settings. He has led national and cross-regional initiatives in complex organisational environments, established sustainable governance and operating models, and worked closely with hospital leadership, regions, industry partners and policy actors to embed innovation as a core task within the healthcare system.

He brings broad experience from both the public and private sectors, complemented by international exposure from senior roles in healthcare innovation, consulting and investment promotion. Rune is recognized for his ability to build strong personal working relationships nationally and internationally across hospitals, innovation leaders, companies and ecosystem partners, and to align diverse stakeholders around shared strategic objectives.

In the context of BETA.HEALTH 2.0, Rune is well positioned to serve as Director of the national innovation platform, combining strategic leadership, deep system insight and hands-on execution to drive high-impact clinical innovation at national and international level.