NHS Cheshire and Merseyside research and innovation approach to improve quality of care
Monday, 15 April 2024
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside is establishing an Integrated Research and Innovation System (IRIS) that aligns with both local and national research and innovation priorities.
The plan is in line with NHS England’s guidance on maximising the benefits of research and highlights the statutory responsibility for Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to deliver research and innovation under the Health and Social Care Act 2022.
The primary aim of IRIS is to create a research and innovation-driven healthcare ecosystem that benefits the entire population by enhancing healthcare quality, fostering innovation and improving patient outcomes.
IRIS will add value to the local health system by helping to attract research investment, strongly supporting innovation and enabling Cheshire and Merseyside to evolve into a world-class system of research and innovation excellence.
Cheshire and Merseyside has already secured funding for Research Engagement Network (REN) Programmes, won an NIHR Capital Investment Award and supported the development of award-winning collaborations such as the Wirral Research Collaborative.
The development of IRIS will enable local health and care leaders to go even further.
Professor Rowan Pritchard Jones, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Medical Director, said:
“When NHS Cheshire and Merseyside was established it struck me that if we are to have integrated care within our system, then that should be supported by integrated research.
“Good quality research benefits patients and generally improves the quality of care. There is already some expectation for Integrated Care Boards to facilitate and support research - the establishment of IRIS demonstrates our ambition to go very much further.”
In collaboration with system stakeholders, a Cheshire and Merseyside research and innovation strategy will now be developed to support health and care leaders to understand the local research and innovation capability, workforce, activity and needs - and to set ambitions around research and innovation.
An update on the establishment of IRIS was provided to the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Board in March 2024.