Health Services and Delivery Research

The Health Services and Delivery Research (HS&DR) Programme funds research to produce evidence to impact on the quality, accessibility and organisation of health and social care services. This includes evaluations of how the NHS  and social care might improve delivery of services.

The audience for this research is the public, service users, clinicians, professionals and managers. The programme has two workstreams: researcher-led and commissioned.

The HS&DR Programme aims to support a range of types of research including evidence synthesis and primary research. This includes large scale studies of national importance. This means primary research projects which:

• address an issue of major strategic importance to the NHS and social care, with the cost in line with the significance of the problem to be investigated
• are likely to lead to changes in practice that will have a significant impact on a large number of patients across the UK
• aim to fill a clear ‘evidence gap’, and are likely to generate new knowledge of direct relevance to the NHS and social care
• have the potential for findings to be applied to other conditions or situations outside the immediate area of research
• bring together a team with strong expertise and track record across the full range of relevant disciplines
• will be carried out across more than one research site

The HS&DR Programme will support:

• research into any aspect of health and social care service quality, accessibility and effectiveness, as long as its importance to the NHS and social care can be clearly demonstrated
• any methodology as long as it is appropriate, proportionate and likely to answer the research questions – which must relate to health service and social care issues
• trials, pilot and feasibility studies on relevant topics, with the involvement of a Clinical Trials Unit if required. In the case of a trial, adequate preparatory work must be completed in order to justify need and feasibility

The HS&DR Programme will not support:

• research for which there is not a strong and well demonstrated case for importance to the NHS/ social care
• research in a single site which is not likely to be generally applicable to other settings or patient groups
• basic scientific or epidemiological research on the causes of disease
• the testing of new health technologies or diagnostic techniques – these may fall within the remit of the HTA Programme
• the establishment of a database, as an end in itself. All studies must include specific research questions, and all data collection must directly contribute to answering these questions
• the setting-up or maintenance of research units
• proposals which are solely or mainly service developments, audits or needs assessments
• PhD studentships

See the success rates for HS&DR proposals.

PIn this section you can read more on the people involved in the assessment of applications for the Health Services and Delivery Research (HS&DR) Programme, read the minutes of previous funding decisions and find out more about becoming a reviewer or a Committee member.

A large number of people are involved in assessing the research proposals received by the HS&DR Programme to ensure that the projects are assessed in a clear and fair way, embracing the latest expertise, knowledge and opinion.

Members of HS&DR Advisory Committees are required to declare any interests which conflict, or may be considered to conflict, with HS&DR business, or may be perceived as influencing decisions made in the course of their work within the HS&DR programme in line with the Conflicts of Interest Policy. Members are asked to complete the Register of Interest form (annually), which is intended to capture long term predictable interests that could be perceived to lead to conflicts of interest. These and other interests are judged on a case by case basis at individual meetings. View the Register of Interests for each HS&DR Programme advisory group.

Our Director

Professor Jo Rycroft-Malone

Watch the latest director's message.

HS&DR Funding Committee

The HS&DR Funding Committee assesses stage 2 proposals received through the commissioned and researcher-led workstreams, primarily for scientific quality and value for money. The committee is composed of experts from a range of disciplines relevant to health and social care delivery research, and public contributors. View list of members.

HS&DR Prioritisation Committee (Commissioned)

The HS&DR Prioritisation Committee (commissioned) assesses stage 1 proposals received through the commissioned workstream, primarily for importance to the NHS and social care. The committee also considers the need for research across a range of key topics, and helps to refine and develop commissioning briefs to be advertised to the researcher community. The committee is composed of senior health and social care managers and clinicians, academic experts and public contributors. View list of members.

HS&DR Prioritisation Committee (Researcher-led)

The HS&DR Prioritisation Committee (Researcher-led) assesses stage 1 proposals received through the researcher-led workstream, primarily for importance to health and social care services. The committee is composed of senior health and social care managers and clinicians, academic experts and public contributors. View list of members.

Reviewers

Our community of reviewers play a vital part in maintaining and improving the quality of the HS&DR Programme projects and outputs. They are sought from a variety of fields, including from those who work in and use health and social care services.

To demonstrate our gratitude to our reviewers and acknowledge the important work they do for the programme the names of past year’s reviewers are listed on our website. View list of HS&DR reviewers.

We offer a wide variety of assistance during all stages of the research process. If in doubt, please get in touch.

For help with applying for HS&DR funding:

Tel: 023 8059 4304
Email: hsdrinfo@nihr.ac.uk

• Do you need help getting started? Contact the Research Design Service
• Do you need assistance running your study in the NHS? Contact the Study Support Service