In its 150th anniversary year, Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust is preparing to open The Spark, a new building at Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park that will be home to the world-leading National Centre for Child Health Technology.
The Spark will be the only facility of its kind in the UK dedicated to developing and testing technology designed specifically to improve children’s health. It will bring together children and young people, clinicians, researchers, academics and industry partners to explore new ideas that could shape the future of children’s healthcare.
The building is now in the final stages of development, bringing Sheffield Children’s a step closer to opening the doors of a new centre for innovation, research and care in the heart of the community.
Building on a long history of innovation
Since 1876, Sheffield Children’s has worked with partners to improve care for children and young people. Throughout its history, teams across Sheffield Children’s have pioneered new approaches to healthcare.
This includes early partnerships with local businesses in the 1960s to improve how anaesthetics were delivered to children, and more recent collaborations with universities developing advanced MRI scanning technologies.
The development of the National Centre for Child Health Technology continues this tradition. The centre will support new ways of designing and delivering healthcare, helping to turn ideas into practical solutions that can benefit children and families.
Collaborating to transform children’s health
The Spark will bring together experts from different sectors alongside children and young people themselves, creating a place where new ideas can be tested and developed together.
Sheffield Children’s has already begun working with partners at Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park and across the region. This includes hosting accelerator programmes with industry leaders and running a national HealthTech challenge with young people aged 13 to 16 to generate new ideas for improving children’s health.
Young people were also integral in naming the building. They suggested “The Spark” because it sounded like a place where children matter and where new ideas begin.
Delivering care closer to home
More than 200 children and young people are expected to visit The Spark every day once it opens. Services will continue to provide the same high-quality care and support for children and families in a new purpose-built facility.
The development also reflects a wider shift across the NHS towards preventing illness and providing more care in community settings. By bringing clinical care, research and technology together in one place, The Spark will help develop new approaches that support children’s health earlier and make services more sustainable for the future.
A hub for child health technology
The project is part of Sheffield Children’s long-term strategy to become a national hub for developing and spreading child health technologies. Through collaboration with partners, Sheffield Children’s aims to design innovations that can improve care not just in Sheffield, but across the UK and beyond.
The development has been made possible through significant external support and investment, including funding from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, Sheffield City Council and Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity.
