Lancaster University has been awarded a nine million pound research grant in the field of Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care, part of the Sociology and Public Health department.
Researchers from across the UK were invited before the Department of Health to pledge their cases for investment to improve public health through the adoption of new collaborative strategies and advances in technology.
Lancaster University has also come together with other local universities, authorities, health services and the Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group to raise a further £12.5 million for the cause.
The initiative, led by Professor Jennie Popay of the Sociology and Public Health department, aims to work with the funding provided by the local universities, NHS services and local government to improve the way that patients are managed and treated in the North West.
On the topic of what the funding will specifically contribute to, Professor Popay spoke to the University press office and said that it “will improve people’s health across the North West as well as reducing the gross inequalities in life expectancy and wellbeing that blight many areas of the region.”
The research budget is just a slice of a total £124 million invested nationwide to improve the health services within the UK. The Lancaster Guardian reported that Lord Howe, Health Minister, believed this kind of funding was necessary as “with a growing elderly population, the need for innovative and effective solutions has never been more important.”
The University and its partners also plan to work directly with pharmaceutical companies, software companies and medical device manufacturers to devise a much more efficient and beneficial system of care for the aging population in the North West.
