The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has updated their Areas of Research Interest (ARIs). They focus on areas of strategic policy importance to DHSC. Research and innovation could help make a step change in how we deal with these complex issues and contribute to improving public, patient and service outcomes. Reduction of compound pressures on the NHS and social care has been identified as one of these ARIs.
In early 2023 NIHR will issue a call for research focused on the reduction of compound pressures on the NHS and social care. We recognise the need for further research based evidence to support those who plan, commission and use services across the health, public health and social care sector.
Defining compound pressures
For the purposes of this research call, compound pressures is defined as:
- pressures on the health and care system, including
- additional health care needs in winter
- during extreme heat events
- during epidemics or pandemics disease
- the interaction of these with other pressures, including
- increases in the cost of living
- disease levels post-COVID
- the operational pressures faces by the NHS and social care
This call is intended to cover all aspects of translational, clinical, public health and social care research. We expect that research funded from this call call leads to the development and/or evaluation of practical, real-world solutions which demonstrate impact in the short, medium and longer term. The focus should be on delivering improved patient outcomes and reduced pressure across the health and care system. Specifically, the NIHR wants to know what is working for whom, where and why in order to understand how current or new systems/interventions could be developed to support a step change in planning for compound pressures.
Issues of particular importance will include (but are not limited to):
- evaluating service or system-level interventions for admission avoidance
- discharge planning and integrated care in the context of compound pressures in the UK
- evaluating the health impacts of population level interventions (such as fuel payments, warmer homes, vaccination programmes)
- effective pandemic preparedness which may contribute to reducing pressure on the health system
Participating programmes
We expect the following NIHR programmes to take part in this call for research:
- Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME)
- Evidence Synthesis Programme (ESP)
- Health and Social Care Delivery Research (HSDR)
- Health Technology Assessment (HTA)
- Invention for Innovation (i4i)
- Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR)
- Public Health Research (PHR)
- Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB)
- Research for Social Care (RfSC)
- NIHR Academy
Further details will be available in due course.
Contact
For further information, please email themedcalls@nihr.ac.uk