Keele re-designated as a member of NIHR: School for Primary Care
This was a competitive process to identify the top primary care research centres in the country. Everyone in the Institute has contributed to achieving this success for Keele, and we should all be very proud of this outstanding achievement."
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has announced the new membership for its School for Primary Care Research (SPCR) with funding of over £30 million over the next five years to support world-leading research into how primary care can deliver the best health care for NHS patients.
The Keele Research Institute for Primary Care & Health Sciences is delighted to have had their membership of the National School renewed. Professor Elaine Hay, Director of the Research Institute, thanked everyone within the Research Institute for their support adding:
"This was a competitive process to identify the top primary care research centres in the country. Everyone in the Institute has contributed to achieving this success for Keele, and we should all be very proud of this outstanding achievement" – Professor Elaine Hay
The research team at Keele University are world leaders in the area of musculoskeletal research, bringing together clinical expertise in primary care and rheumatology with strengths in observational research, clinical trials and qualitative research. The team has a strong track record in delivering high quality research that drives forward and improves the care provided to patients with common musculoskeletal problems such as back pain and osteoarthritis in the community.
The primary care research team at Keele University plans to conduct research which will underpin a shift in the way musculoskeletal disorders, and other common conditions such as mental health problems, are managed in primary care, moving away from a narrow focus on disease and only dealing with each problem as it arises to an increasing emphasis on:
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pro-active, positive approaches that seek out and help patients needing more support for self-management of common long-term health problems
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identifying those needing more input from doctors or other health professionals, and developing and testing new treatments and ways of organising primary care which better meet these needs
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developing approaches which take all the physical, psychological and social needs of patients with long-term health problems into account
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investigating why some people with common health problems do well and others do badly and using this information to make sure that the right patients get the right treatment in a timely manner.
From October 2015, NIHR SPCR membership will include the Universities of Keele, Bristol, Cambridge, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Southampton, University College London. It is a huge privilege for Keele to have been selected to be a member of this prestigious group of primary care departments and reflects the status and standing which Keele’s primary care research has achieved. The National School for Primary Care Research will be supported by NIHR research funding in the region of £22 million to conduct clinical trials and other well-designed studies in primary care. In addition to supporting research, funding in the region of £10 million will be awarded to research training and capacity development within the School. In this way, the NIHR School for Primary care Research will continue its mandate to increase the evidence base for primary care practice and train future leaders by providing multi-disciplinary training and career development opportunities. Keele looks forward to being part of this ambitious programme.