New national £64 million health research and care initiative to benefit region

Published by Ather for University of Leicester in Central Government and also in Health

University of Leicester and local NHS organisations have worked together to attract significant new research funding to tackle chronic conditions like heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity

A new collaboration that will bring together the University of Leicester and the districts NHS organisations to test new treatments and new ways of working in specific clinical areas has been announced today (Tuesday May 27) by Public Health Minister, Dawn Primarolo.

It is one of only seven such partnerships nationally which will see NHS organisations and leading Universities across the country share in a total of £64 million to conduct research and improve patient care in major conditions including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity. Locally the funding is likely to be worth at least £20m.

The 7 new NIHR (National Institute for Health Research) Collaborations for Health Research and Care were selected by an independent international selection panel made up of health experts from around the globe; the research work will start on 1 October 2008.

Professor Richard Baker, Head of the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Leicester, and the successful bid leader is Director of the new NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland (LNR).

He said: This is an ambitious new venture to bring academics and providers together to address major conditions of public health importance.

It is funded through £10m from the NIHR and a further £10m provided by the University of Leicester, the NHS Trusts in LNR (University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Kettering General Hospital Trust, Northampton General Hospital Trust, Leicestershire Partnership Trust, Northamptonshire Health Care Trust, Northamptonshire Teaching PCT, Leicestershire County and Rutland PCT, and Leicester City PCT), the East Midlands Healthcare Workforce Deanery, and by industry.

Created through collaboration, it will employ partnership to evaluate new ways to prevent, detect and mange chronic conditions, and to deliver effective rehabilitation.

We will be using innovative approaches, and will work with health care teams to translate research into practice, and the principle of collaboration will be extended from health care into local communities in order to maximise impact on outcomes.

Professor David Rowbotham, Research & Development Director at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and Professor of Pain Management and Anaesthesia at the University of Leicester said: This is the result of many months of hard work by the University and the NHS teams, led by Professor Baker. Our track record of taking research from the laboratory to patient trials is already established, but this unique work will now see us working on how we take patient trials to the next stage and translate new healthcare techniques into principles which can be applied across the whole population. In other words its about how we make the extraordinary research work weve already done, mainstream to share with others. And thats great news for patients.

Professor Baker added that LNR is an ideal place for this exciting research programme because of the partnerships between the University and the NHS that have been established over many years: Whilst concentrating on local health concerns and inequalities in health, the CLAHRC will provide an example for other Trusts in the NHS and for health services overseas of how researchers and providers can work together effectively to make a practical difference to patient care.

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Issued on 27 May