The head of the UK’s first collaborative business venture between the NHS and academia has heavily criticised the reluctance of universities to get involved in health and boost patient care and outcomes.

Professor Stephen Smith, who is chief executive and principal of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Britain’s first academic health science centre (AHSC), was speaking at the annual conference of the NHS Confederation, held in Manchester last week. Academic health science centres aim to speed up the translation of academic research into better and more effective treatment …