Outstanding achievement as Keele's NIHR school for Primary Care membership is renewed
Keele's Research Institute for Primary Care & Health Sciences is delighted to announce that its membership of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Primary Care Research has been renewed.
The NIHR School for Primary Care Research (SPCR) will have 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. 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. Membership includes the universities of Keele, Bristol, Cambridge, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Southampton and University College London.
It 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. In this way, the SPCR 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.
Professor Elaine Hay, Director of the Research Institute said: "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 research team at Keele 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.