Executive Team

Ben Bridgewater

Chief Executive

Ben Bridgewater is Chief Executive of Health Innovation Manchester, a place-based innovation organisation with a vision to be world leading in improving the lives of local people, transforming care and boosting the economy through innovation. Since 2018, Ben has led the organisation through a period of growth and transformation, securing significant external investment and delivering nationally recognised programmes such as the Greater Manchester Care Record and pioneering work in obesity care.

Ben is also the Executive Chair of the Health Innovation Network, representing England’s 15 regional health innovation networks nationally. He spearheads the Network’s mission to harness innovation to improve health outcomes and drive economic growth.

Ben is a leading expert on health informatics, national clinical audit, clinical governance, healthcare transparency, patient experience measurement and digital transformation in healthcare, publishing numerous high profile academic outputs and delivering innovative IT tools for disseminating clinical outcomes to professionals and the public.

He brings extensive experience as a former cardiac surgeon for 18 years,  as a clinical leader and innovator, with a track record of delivering national policy, leading digital transformation, and forging major NHS-industry partnerships.

Laura Rooney

Deputy CEO & Chief Strategy Officer

Laura is an experienced healthcare leader and communications professional, with extensive experience across the NHS, digital and life sciences industries. In her current role, Laura oversees HInM’s strategic priorities across the research and innovation portfolio, working closely with the rest of the executive team, HInM staff, key stakeholders and partners.  Her broad portfolio includes strategy and planning, innovation pipeline curation, user-led design and public engagement, programme assurance, organisational development, stakeholder engagement and partnerships, and strategic communications.

Laura has spent 15 years working in senior roles across the NHS in Greater Manchester, both in commissioning and provider organisations, and prior to that worked in corporate agencies specialising in business to business PR. She has a wealth of experience in managing complex and sensitive issues, strategy development and delivery, media relations and corporate affairs.

She enjoys using creative processes to see things differently and elicit new ideas and concepts towards solving problems, as well as encouraging success and creativity in others through positive leadership, inclusion, and coproduction.

Vish Mehra

Chief Medical Officer

Dr Mehra has worked across Greater Manchester for more than 25 years and brings extensive experience in clinical leadership, system transformation, and innovation at scale. A GP for over 18 years, he combines his ongoing clinical work in one of Manchester’s most diverse communities with senior leadership roles across primary care and the wider health system. As Partner Member for Primary Care on the NHS Greater Manchester Board, he provides strategic leadership and ensures the voice of general practice is represented in decision-making.

Dr Mehra was a founding director and Chair of the Central Manchester GP Federation, where he led the creation of one of England’s first extended access services and the pioneering use of shared digital records that later informed national policy.  He was Chair of both Manchester Local Medical Committee and Manchester GP Board until end of November 2025 before joining Health Innovation Manchester.

Claire Macconnell

Chief Operating Officer

Claire Macconnell, formerly the Group Director of HR and OD at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, sits now in the role of Chief Operating Officer, a newly established position at Health Innovation Manchester.

With her extensive experience overseeing group HR functions and leading teams in complex programs across primary and secondary care, Claire plays an integral role in the seamless execution of program delivery aligned with Health Innovation Manchester’s vision and strategy.