More than £100m will be funnelled into 20 new policy research units (PRUs) across England, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has announced.
Funded by NIHR, the new PRUs will look to tackle emerging issues within the health and social care sectors, including dementia, reproductive health, addiction and palliative care.
The units ensure health leaders are equipped with the best and most up-to-date information possible when making policy decisions by enabling direct access to academic experts in a variety of fields; the system has been running in one form or another since the 1970s.
With the contract for the incumbent 15 PRUs ending this December, the incoming 20 new units will begin work in January 2024 – each PRU will benefit from £3-5.5m over a three-to-five-year contract.
The PRUs for 2024-28 include:
- Condition specific:
- Cancer awareness, screening and early diagnosis – University College London (UCL)
- Healthy weight – UCL
- Mental health – UCL
- Addictions – King’s College London
- Reproductive health – UCL
- Dementia and neurodegeneration – Queen Mary University of London/University of Exeter
- Life course:
- Maternal and neonatal health and care – University of Oxford
- Children and families – UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
- Healthy ageing – University of Newcastle upon Tyne
- Palliative and end of life care – King’s College London
- Specialism specific:
- Economics of health and social care systems – University of York
- Economic methods of evaluation in health and care systems – University of York
- Policy innovation and evaluation – London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- Behavioural and social sciences – University of Newcastle upon Tyne
- System directed:
- Quality, safety and outcomes of health and social care – University of Kent
- Health and social care workforce – King’s College London
- Health and social care systems and commissioning – University of Manchester
- Public health – London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- Adult social care – London School of Economics
UCL’s reproductive health PRU was set up as part of the Women’s Health Strategy that launched in 2022.
Women’s health ambassador for England, Professor Dame Lesley Regan, said: “This much welcomed funding, going to a range of important health care issues, has rightly prioritised reproductive health and also dementia, which is a major cause of disability and death in women.
“This is an important step in our mission to deliver the Women’s Health Strategy and emphasises the vital role that research plays in our understanding of the key issues that will determine how we improve women’s health and wellbeing.”
Image credit: iStock
