Keele awarded almost £1million to create Health Innovation & Education Cluster
Professor Andy Garner, Dean of the Faculty of Health at Keele University, has led a successful bid to create one of the country’s Health Innovation & Education Clusters (HIEC) to be based on the Staffordshire and Shropshire health economy. The grant of £970,000 will support set-up costs over the next three years.
The 25,000 word application to the Department of Health was a lengthy process spanning 12 months that involved local, regional and national short-listing, prior to a lengthy interview by a 15-strong international awards panel, chaired by HEFCE Chief Executive, Sir Alan Langlands. HIECs were conceived by Lord Darzi to complement the Academic Health Science Centres (AHSCs) announced last year. Fit for the Future, the project that is redesigning delivery of healthcare in the region, will provide a framework for the HIEC, which will focus on evaluation of the 25-plus new care pathways, provision of an appropriately trained workforce to support transfer of care into the community, and implementation of innovative approaches to support education, training and reaccreditation.
Professor Garner said he was extremely pleased to see Keele competing successfully on the national stage for what are seen as prestigious centres for establishing health services research, evaluation and training. He is particularly keen to build on the momentum created by the HIEC bid to enhance partnerships between local NHS Trusts and between academia and the health service in North Staffordshire and the West Midlands. He also praised colleagues from across the Faculty and local NHS who contributed to the bid, including John Johnson Faculty of Health Business Manager at Keele University, Professor Peter Croft (Keele University Research Institute Director Primary Care), Dr Kay Mohanna (Director of Postgraduate Medicine at Keele), Gavin Russell (Medical Director at UHNS) and Graham Urwin (Chief Executive of Stoke PCT).
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For further media information contact Chris Stone on 01782 733375 or c.w.stone@kfm.keele.ac.uk