Half of the research in the Health Services Research UoA is officially classified as world-leading or internationally excellent in terms of originality, significance and rigour, having half of its evidence assessed as being in the 4* and 3* categories for quality in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise.
| Quality Level | 4* | 3* | 2* | 1* | Unclassified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % of research activity | 10 | 40 | 45 | 5 | 0 |
Health Services Research (HSR) in Newcastle has undergone major changes since 2001 when we returned a small, internationally recognised, core group of five researchers. Strategic developments in infrastructure and appointments have led to planned growth, with new research programmes and cross faculty collaborations and a major reorganisation of research infrastructure. These led to the inception in 2006 of the new cross faculty Institute of Health and Society (IHS) with 125 academic, research and support staff. Twenty out of 55 academic staff in the Institute work on HSR related research. Their externally funded research approaches £20m since 2001.
Our research is organised around two themes:
Through both of these themes runs a cross cutting programme of work on trials and methods based on the Newcastle Clinical Trials Unit.
The standing of our senior investigators is internationally acknowledged - not only through Health Foundation funding, ESRC and Leverhulme Fellowships, and NIHR Career Scientist awards, but also through individual honours – for example, election to the Academy of Social Sciences and the Academy of Medical Sciences. Senior investigators also contribute to the field through elected editorial responsibilities, membership of key research commissioning panels in the UK and internationally, and as invited speakers at key international conferences.
Our Postgraduate researcher community reflects a necessary focus on part-time staff PhDs as an important element of primary capacity building. As this has borne fruit, we have pursued successful applications for NHS/NIHR RDA and MRC studentships. Further shared studentships include Arthritis Research Campaign (ARC) educational fellowships linked to the development of NHS services, ESRC CASE and Cancer Research UK doctoral studentships and fellowships funded through ESRC/DTI Knowledge Transfer Partnerships.
The expansion of HSR in Newcastle reflects the Faculty of Medical Science’s concentration of research into eight University Research Institutes – most cutting across disciplinary boundaries, and all building on existing areas of highest quality and achieving critical mass. From 2001 to 2008 the Faculty of Medical Sciences will have invested over £80m in new build or major refurbishment for research and major research equipment items. The Institute of Health Sciences is a key component of the second wave of research institute development within the University. In 2009 the Institute will move into the new £29m Transport House research complex.