The ReMed Research project team recently hosted a Network Building Workshop which took place on 22^nd June 2023 in the West Park Teaching Hub at Loughborough University. The workshop attracted around 30 industrial participants representing the range of sectors involved with the circular economy for small medical devices: medical device manufacturers and remanufacturers, medical device designers and developers, NHS, industry bodies, research and innovation networks, waste management and materials developers and manufacturers.

During the workshop, the ReMed academic team, which comprises 5 lead investigators and 7 Postdoctoral researchers, took the opportunity to explain more about the ReMed project and the research being undertaken within the team. However, the main focus of the event was to encourage the industry participants to share their experience of what is happening within industry around the circular economy of small medical devices as well as to bring their knowledge and expertise to the group.

The workshop was divided into two main sessions, with the morning being focussed on ‘Challenges, Barriers and Drivers’ and the afternoon focussed on ‘Innovation and Technology Gaps’. Within each session, there were 4 discussion groups (shown in the Table below), with each one being facilitated by members of the ReMed academic team. On each table, a selection of sample medical devices and some pre-generated questions were provided in order to aid discussion, as well as plenty of post-it notes and flip chart sheets! Each session produced a wealth of information (which is still being analysed by the ReMed team) and an industry representative from each group provided a summary of their discussion to the rest of the participants, which was interesting and well-received.

The workshop was very well received by the participants, and lots of positive feedback was received after the event. Participants praised the format of the event, saying it was well-facilitated, which enabled everyone to feel able to contribute and be listened to. Participants also commented on the usefulness of being able to access a network of people engaged in the same area of work across multiple sectors and organisations.

There were many opportunities for participants to network during the day, including the morning coffee session and over lunch. After the close of the session, many participants stayed around for a while engaged in discussion with each other and the ReMed team, which seemed to highlight the successful nature of the event.

The outputs from the workshop will be published in a report over the coming months, and a set of slides with an initial summary of the outputs can be viewed here (add link). Please keep an eyer on out Events page (link) for future ReMed events, including the ReMed Conference which is due to take place on 19^th December 2023.

 Morning Session: Challenges, Barriers and Drivers

   ·   Drivers for adopting CE (NHS net zero)

   ·   Operational Barriers in Healthcare Settings Preventing CE-

   ·   Challenges in Product Supply & Waste Recovery Preventing CE

   ·   Gaps in Policy and Legislation Preventing CE

 Afternoon Session: Challenges, Barriers and Drivers

   ·    Design for Circular Medical Devices

   ·    Materials Specification and Characterisation 

   ·    Decision Support Models for CE Evaluation

   ·    Reprocessing Technologies for Reuse, Remanufacture and Recycle