Under-Secretary of State for Health Innovation and Safety visits new building on University of Huddersfield’s NHIC
pharmafile | April 22, 2026 | News story | | University of Huddersfield’s NHIC
Dr Zubir Ahmed MP, the Under-Secretary of State for Health Innovation and Safety, recently visited the newly opened Emily Siddon Building on the University of Huddersfield’s National Health Innovation Campus (NHIC).
During his visit, Dr Ahmed toured the building and officially opened the Southgate Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC).
Southgate CDC is the first CDC in the country to be completed on a university campus and is operated in partnership with Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT).
Dr Ahmed said: “This government is rewiring our NHS to fit around people’s lives – thanks to the £29bn extra investment we’re putting into it.
“That’s why I’m delighted to open the new Community Diagnostic Centre in Huddersfield, which will help thousands of people across Kirklees get treated sooner and get better quicker.
“It will mean people can get tests, checks and scans locally on their lunch break or on the way to pick up the kids from school – without travelling across town to a more traditional hospital setting.”
The MP for Glasgow South West also visited the Health Business Innovation Centre (HBIC), where he met emerging health innovators from the Huddersfield Health Innovation Incubator (HHII) and Propel West Yorkshire.
HBIC aims to become a hub for local entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses working in health to tackle health inequalities across West Yorkshire, with HII and Propel offering support programmes to early stage and scale-up organisations.
Attendees of the ‘Navigating support for health innovators in West Yorkshire’ event included the NHIC Regional and Business Lead, Professor Liz Towns-Andrews. The CEO of Paxman Cooling Systems, Richard Paxman, also met Dr Ahmed.
