The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust announced a partnership on 2 September 2026 to create a Manchester Sandbox for testing new healthcare technologies in real NHS settings. The programme aims to generate evidence on safety, effectiveness and impact, and to support wider adoption of technologies that work.

The first technologies are expected to include AI-enabled medical devices, such as tools to identify patients at higher risk of complications from long-term conditions. The MHRA said the collaboration offers the chance to test proportionate, lifecycle-based regulatory approaches. Health Innovation Minister James Frith said the partnership would test technologies with strict oversight and guardrails.

The source reports that MFT and the MHRA planned to convene a roundtable later in 2026, and that the MHRA would invite expressions of interest from medical device developers for the next phase. MHRA chief executive Lawrence Tallon and MFT chief executive Mark Cubbon both said learning from the programme could inform how effective technologies are introduced across the NHS.