New £24million Research Programme to Improve the Region’s Health and Wellbeing: CLAHRC 2

PATIENTS with long term conditions such as mental health disorders, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes and stroke are set to benefit from a major multi-million pound partnership between the region’s NHS organisations, leading universities, local government, industry, charities, patients and the public. 

The NationalInstitute for Health Research (NIHR) is to award the Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care Yorkshire and Humber (CLAHRC YH) a £10million grant to test new ways of delivering and re-designing health services and tackling health inequalities. The research programme – which is being boosted by a further £14million pound investment from partner organisations – will begin its work in January 2014 for a five-year period.

It will be hosted by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The investment will see the development of innovative health services through joint working between patients and partner organisations. As well as projects to improve services for people with diabetes, COPD or mental health disorders, and stroke survivors, there will be projects on the use of remote health technologies, which can help patients with long term conditions through improved monitoring and self-management, and projects to improve diagnosis and services for the frail and elderly. 

Professor Sue Mawson, director of the Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care Yorkshire and Humber, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded funding for this major new initiative which will give us real opportunities to continue our activities and research in this important area. Yorkshire and Humber has some of the highest levels of social deprivation and health inequalities in the country, and the North-South divide is growing, so this is a significant investment which will enable us to address some of the huge health challenges we face across our region. We have already committed to working with 39 partner organisations in our region, including NHS organisations, leading universities, local government, charities and industry, and this will put us in a strong position to become a world leader in health services research, healthcare innovation, and transform the health of thousands of people living in the region and beyond.”

The Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care Yorkshire and Humber is one of 13 national collaborations to improve healthcare. A total of nine pilot programmes have been active nationally since 2008, with the Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care Yorkshire and Humber developing from two of these pilot programmes in South Yorkshire and Leeds, York and Bradford.

Further information about existing Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care programmes in Yorkshire and Humber can be found at www.clahrc-sy.nihr.ac.uk and www.clahrc-lyb.nihr.ac.uk.