Our team members come together from NHS and commercial backgrounds and, collectively, have over 100 years’ of industry and NHS experience.
Our expertise means we understand the drivers influencing your business aims and objectives.
And our close working links with colleagues from directorates and teams across our organisation and in the broader health and life sciences sector, means we can develop bespoke, realistic proposals and targeted solutions to meet your needs.
Wayne Elliott, associate director
Wayne has over 20 years’ experience in industry, working in roles including retail operations, product development and commercial planning.
Leading on the development of the Trust’s commercial strategy, Wayne works across a broad portfolio covering research, diagnostics, education, training and pharmacy production. He is also a member of the Shelford commercial directors’ group, a collaboration between ten of the largest teaching and research NHS hospital trusts in England.
As one of the founding commercial enterprise team members, Wayne has first-hand experience of the Trust’s capabilities including world class facilities, skills and expertise and can link directly with key experts within the Trust to provide insights and feedback around your needs.
Born, educated and with a career based in Newcastle, Wayne has a strong passion for the region and its potential for growth in areas such as innovation and life sciences, to enable us to continue to provide high quality healthcare for patients.
Talk to me about: Engaging and working with Newcastle Hospitals and the services we can offer to develop your commercial opportunities.
Martin Crosby, senior commercial business manager
Martin joined the NHS in 2002 and has held a number of positions in directorate management in a range of specialties including musculo-skeletal, general surgery, trauma and orthopaedics, medicine, plastics and dermatology and Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT). Martin has developed a detailed understanding of the operational issues facing clinical teams and managers. He has first hand experience of the challenges teams are facing as they work to move beyond Covid and he can offer his experience to support services to develop their commercial opportunities.
Martin is responsible for working closely with teams across the Trust and with a range of NHS and private sector organisations to identify and develop potential commercial opportunities and maximise commercial value. Martin can support with product evaluations, real world data generation and collaborative partnerships.
Talk to me about: Developing partnership working, maximising commercial opportunities and value, and navigating NHS organisations.
Melanie Shield, senior commercial business manager
Melanie has over 25 years’ experience in a variety of commercial roles in the private sector from start-ups to FTSE 250 companies. Having launched a wide portfolio of products, to market, she has a wealth of experience in product development, procurement, strategic planning and driving commercial activity.
Melanie provides a dedicated point of contact for customers and commercial partners looking to engage the services of the North East Innovation Lab and Novopath. She works to identify customer requirements, establish good relationships, develop service agreements and to support clients’ needs.
Talk to me about: Engaging the North East Innovation Lab to support the development of your diagnostic technology.
Charlotte Fox, business innovation manager
Over the past 14 years Charlotte has worked in various roles across the NHS. With an academic background in biomedical science and drug discovery and development, Charlotte’s particular areas of expertise are: clinical research, evidence generation, supporting a culture for innovation and the adoption of digital healthcare products.
Charlotte has worked across the innovation ecosystem in the north east and north Cumbria region for the past seven years and built up a large network of contacts across different sectors, universities and industry partners, to support innovation in health.
In her current role, Charlotte manages intellectual property across the trust and supports NHS innovators and clinical entrepreneurs, leading on developing and implementing our innovation strategy.
Talk to me about: Engaging and working with the NHS, leveraging funding, value proposition, product market placement, engaging with service users.
Michelle Waugh, innovation project manager
Michelle has 27 years’ experience working in the public sector including the police, in children’s safeguarding, and latterly the forensic science department, where she become a nationally qualified and registered fingerprint expert representing the police in some high-profile cases.
Michelle moved into the field of innovation with a focus on supporting projects aimed at improving population health, liaising with collaborative partners from the NHS, industry, third sector and academia across the north east and north Cumbria.
Michelle is responsible for managing innovation projects across Newcastle Hospitals and providing guidance and expertise to colleagues to nurture and develop their ideas through the innovation pathway.
Talk to me about: Your ideas, unmet needs and challenges and how I can provide support through each stage of the innovation pathway.
Julie Marsh, head of communications
Julie has worked in a number of NHS communications roles over the last 23 years, at regional, local and national levels. Prior to working in the NHS, she worked in communications in the criminal justice and local authority sectors.
Julie’s experience includes strategic communications, marketing communications, integrated campaign development, media relations, stakeholder engagement, corporate communications and crisis management.
Julie led communications for the launch of the day treatment centre at the Freeman Hospital. She also led communications for the Integrated Covid Hub North East, working closely with partner communications leads and the NHS vaccination programme.
Audrey Barton, communications manager
Audrey has experience of working within both the private and public sector. She has worked in a range of communications and engagement roles for the NHS including primary and secondary care organisations across the region for the last 16 years.
Prior to joining the NHS, Audrey was a health reporter and video journalist for newspapers and online news platforms in the north of England. She went onto work for Newcastle based public relations and marketing agencies delivering consumer and business to business campaigns for SMEs, the third sector and national and global companies.
In her commercial team role Audrey delivers media relations, digital communications, stakeholder engagement and marketing for the commercial enterprise team and the hospital’s services including Novopath, the North East Innovation Lab, the day treatment centre and the HR careers service.
