Nottinghamshire Healthcare and The University of Nottingham, have won £17.4m in funding to establish a new research centre to help improve patient care across the region.
The Collaborative Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) in the East Midlands, one of only nine in the country, is a five year partnership between The University of Nottingham, progressive NHS organisations and both Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County Councils.
The CLAHRC will develop new approaches to healthcare research and enable more research to be carried out. It will also ensure that research is focused on patients' needs and that findings can be put into practice more quickly to improve the care that patients receive.
Research areas already identified include mental health, primary care, stroke medication and younger people. These are local and national healthcare priorities, as outlined in Lord Darzi's recently published NHS Next Stage Review 'High Quality Healthcare for All'.
There will be two further areas of research.
Research and education: evaluating current healthcare practices and performance, areas of innovation and their implementation and educational support.
Stakeholder engagement: listening to the views and experiences of patients and partner agencies to enhance the delivery of healthcare services.
Professor Nick Manning, Director of the Institute of Mental Health, said: " This is a major investment into improving the lives of NHS patients through innovation and research led changes in healthcare practice. It is also a significant acknowledgement of the rapid progress we have made in the Institute of Mental Health, jointly established in 2006 by Nottinghamshire Healthcare and The University of Nottingham. It will be a solid platform on which we will be able to build further developments for the Trent region."
Mike Cooke, Chief Executive of Nottinghamshire Healthcare and CLAHRC Executive Board Chair, said: "The announcement of this successful bid is excellent news. The development of a local CLAHRC will have a positive impact on patients by accelerating the translation of research evidence into practical service improvements, resulting in better care and patient experience within the NHS in the East Midlands. We are committed to working in partnership to ensure this important development for the region is a success."
Wendy Saviour, Chief Executive of Nottinghamshire County Teaching Primary Care Trust, said: "We're delighted that this successful bid will see extra funding for research focused on the County's health priorities. For patients this research will lead to developments in services and improved care and better outcomes. It's great news for Nottinghamshire".
The successful bid has been awarded by the National Institute for Health Research, which will provide half of the funding for the CLAHRC with the remaining half (matched funding) raised by the organisations involved.
Partners involved in the CLAHRC are:
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
Nottingham University Hospitals Trust
Nottinghamshire County Teaching Primary Care Trust (PCT)
Nottingham City PCT
Bassetlaw PCT
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Derbyshire Mental Health Services NHS Trust
Derby City PCT
NHS East Midlands
Nottingham County Council
Nottingham City Council
The University of Nottingham