ReMed Conference 2023

The first ReMed Conference took place on 19th December 2023 at Loughborough University. The conference brought together over 80 delegates working across multiple sectors including: academia, manufacturing, healthcare, waste management, reprocessing, design and consultancy to discuss the latest developments and future opportunities for the transition to a circular economy for small medical devices. Prof Shahin Rahimifard, Principal Investigator of the ReMed Project opened the conference: "The proliferation of the range and number of medical treatments, their inherent reliance on the use of Medical Devices as well as an aging population and rapid growth in the number of patients seeking the most advanced treatments globally has resulted in a perfect storm which is threatening the fair and equitable access to such devices across the world. The ReMed Conference brings together a broad range of actors and decision makes across the value chain of medical devices to accelerate the transition to a circular economy within the healthcare sector and improve the resilience of supply and global access to such devices." A welcome speech was delivered by Professor Nick Jennings, Loughborough University Vice-Chancellor, who talked about the importance and benefits of multi-disciplinary conferences, the alignment of the conference with the University strategy and the impact that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is having in the medical device sector and how this is expected to grow. The VC set the scene perfectly for the conference by saying:  "One of the things I've always loved about being an academic is the ability to try novel solutions to really important societal challenges. The circular economy is a really important societal challenge, both nationally and internationally. And so, I would encourage you to try things, bring together expertise, be bold, and be ambitious in terms of the things that you're willing to try." A bold keynote presentation was given by Prof Mahmood Bhutta, Chair in ENT Surgery and Professor of Sustainable Healthcare at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. Prof. Bhutta's talk highlighted the significant impacts that the use of disposable goods in healthcare are having not only on the environment but also on people. Specific challenges presented including: Infection control at times is being used as an excuse not to make changes to the linear supply model; the serious impact on our planet from overuse of PPE during the pandemic; lack of transparency of where medical devices are manufactured, studies have shown that almost half single use devices are produced in countries with poor human rights record. Prof. Bhutta spoke from his perspective on actions that medical professionals can take to contribute to making progress on reducing medical waste.

The ReMed Team are delighted to announce the final speaker list for the 2023 Conference As a researcher within the Circular Economy of Small Medical Devices (ReMed) research project, I had the privilege of attending the Operational Research Society (ORS) Annual Conference ‘OR65’ and Early Career Researcher (ECR) Workshop , from 10 th – 14 th September 2023, in the picturesque city of Bath, UK.