The NIHR's mission is to improve the health and wealth of the nation.
Funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, we invest over £1 billion a year in research that provides people working in the front lines of the NHS, public health and social care with the evidence they need to better support patients, service users and the public.
Read about how our work is influencing care, and making a positive difference to people, and the economy.
These are the stories of our research.
An NIHR-funded programme of research to improve the quality of care and health of very preterm babies has improved understanding of parents’ experiences and informed both clinical guidelines and the direction of future research. An NIHR Research Professorship has enabled a Bristol-based GP to design and deliver interventions to reduce clinical uncertainty around prescribing antibiotics. NIHR researchers investigating ways to reduce health risks in maternity care have shown that a single dose of antibiotic after assisted childbirth can nearly halve the risk of maternal infection. Research career development funding through NIHR awards is supporting Lucy Potter’s research career progression while improving access to primary care for people who experience severe and multiple disadvantage. An NIHR-funded evaluation confirmed that PreCept, a national programme to prevent cerebral palsy, improved the uptake of an important treatment for women in preterm labour and helped protect premature babies from developing cerebral palsy. A new pathway to monitor people with stable diabetic eye disease has been shown by NIHR researchers to be safe and cost-effective, giving ophthalmologists more time to assess and treat people requiring their urgent care. NIHR research in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for patients with recurrent depression, leads to new guidance to support its wider provision by NHS services. An NIHR-funded evaluation of specialist hospital discharge services for homeless patients confirmed that they helped prevent discharge to the street, reduced emergency readmissions and were cost-effective for the NHS. The NIHR Global Health Research Group in Surgical Technologies has developed and trained surgeons to use innovative new devices, enabling routine surgery in remote communities in low-resource settings. The NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Modelling and Health Economics played a critical role in providing urgent public health advice to policy makers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Their research contributed to saving tens of thousands of lives in the UK and internationally.Latest stories
Improving outcomes for very preterm babies and their parents
Stemming the rise of antibiotic resistance to bring improvements for patient care
Antibiotics after assisted birth halves the rate of infection
Bridging Gaps in primary healthcare for women with complex needs
Preventing cerebral palsy in premature babies
New pathway to monitor diabetic eye disease cuts waiting times
Wider access to mindfulness therapy benefits patients with recurrent depression
Specialist support for people who are homeless reduces emergency hospital readmissions
New surgical devices improve access to surgery in low-resource settings
Guiding the UK and international response during the Covid-19 pandemic
