Our Company of the Month for June 2026 is Roche Diagnostics UK and Ireland whom we have recently welcomed as sponsors of the HIRANI mentoring network.
We speak to Healthcare Systems Partner, Rozanna Hardie about how the company works collaboratively on reducing health inequalities.
“With over 125 years of innovation in healthcare, Roche is the market leader in in vitro diagnostics and digital health solutions worldwide.
“Our industry-leading R&D investments and deep expertise in diagnostics, digital health, and data science enable us to innovate at scale. With our diagnostics and medicines divisions under one roof, we are uniquely placed to create integrated solutions that span the entire patient journey.
“We have the world’s largest installed base of diagnostic solutions and a proven operational network, reliably delivering over 30 billion tests annually across 150+ countries. Underpinned by our commitment to quality, sustainability, regulatory excellence, and supply chain resilience, our scale and innovation heritage allow us to deliver breakthrough solutions, expand access, and tackle healthcare’s greatest challenges globally.
“Our purpose statement, or the ‘why’ behind Roche’s existence, is ‘doing now what patients need next.’
“We combine our global scale with deep local knowledge, understanding what each community needs and delivering solutions that work in real healthcare settings. We work closely with partners across the healthcare ecosystem — from startups and labs to clinicians, academia, health authorities, and governments — to advocate for better access and build alliances that strengthen healthcare systems
“I am one of four Healthcare Systems Partners working across the UK and Ireland, and along with a Healthcare Outcomes Partner and Health Transformation Partner, we form the Innovation and Transformation Team for Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. I work closely with system leaders in HSC and HSE to realise value-leading healthcare initiatives, and collaborate to help reduce health inequalities and improve access to the many benefits that accurate, early diagnosis can bring to healthcare systems, providers and patients.
“The opportunity to work collaboratively on reducing health inequalities was what first attracted me to this role. I really believe that, with continued collaboration and innovation, we can improve health outcomes for women, hard-to-reach communities, and those living in deprived areas.
“It is such an honour to work across Northern Ireland, which is bursting with innovation and talent. There is a thriving spirit among stakeholders that I think is unlike anywhere else. As a trusted Managed Service partner across Northern Ireland, we have a unique opportunity to work with our colleagues and all external stakeholders across the sector.
“Diseases like cancer, neurological disorders, cardiovascular-metabolic conditions, and infectious diseases place immense strain on families, communities, and healthcare systems worldwide. We are determined to prevent, stop and cure these diseases — not someday, but now. Our expertise in diagnostics, combined with our industry-leading capabilities in AI, data integration, and digital health, enable us to transform how they are detected, prevented, diagnosed and managed. We do this across the full range of care settings — from centralised laboratories to community clinics, primary care, and the patient’s bedside — ensuring diagnostic innovation is available wherever patients need it.
“In Ireland there are a number of exciting projects happening:
- Working with the Department of Health to support the development of Neighbourhood initiatives, which we know is integral in the shift to preventing disease rather than treatment alongside bringing care closer to home as part of the Reset Programme to help protect hospital services.
- Roche continues to expand pathology services in NI with the recent award of the Histopathology Managed Service contract, and the replacement and upgrading of analysers and platforms.
- Roche have initiated a global Pro-Brain Alliance earlier adopter programme for our new pTau 217 blood-based biomarker for the early and accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and my colleague John Glynn, is really proud that one of the two UK sites chosen to be part of this is in Northern Ireland.
- My colleague, Sinead Murphy, collaborated with primary care on a project aimed at evaluating the impact of point-of-care testing in the management of people with Type 2 Diabetes. As a result of the positive outcomes from this process improvement project, we hope to collaborate again to develop an extended project to demonstrate that the same benefits of improved efficiency, enhanced clinician and patient experiences, and cost savings can be achieved at scale across diverse primary care settings.
“Recently, I had the honour of witnessing Farm Families performing 30,000 health checks at the Balmoral Show. This programme was originally supported by my colleague Shaz Passi who helped Doreen Bolten and Christina Faulkner bring their goal of bringing care closer to the community to life. Using Roche devices for testing cholesterol and blood sugar levels these health checks allowed people from across hard to reach communities to access these important tests and is a brilliant example of how industry and healthcare can work together.
“The hugely successful Health Tech Spring, which we were proud to sponsor, gave us a brilliant platform to collaborate with stakeholders new and old towards a series of common goals. By bringing the Permanent Secretary and Chief Pharmaceutical Officer into the room, the dialogue moved beyond data to real-world impact. From precision diagnostics to community-based care, the message was clear: Northern Ireland’s unique ecosystem is transforming the patient journey, ensuring the right treatment reaches the right person, faster than ever before.
“Roche is committed to working beyond ‘business as usual’ in Northern Ireland. Making sure we build social value into our presence in the region is of great importance. Sponsoring HIRANI’s Mentor Programme is a very exciting opportunity to build on relationships and support the next generation of innovators.”
