24th October 2024
The Southern Health and Social Care Trust has launched an ambitious five-year Research and Development plan to improve health outcomes and enhance patient care.
The 2024-2030 plan focuses on ensuring the health and wellbeing of people is positively impacted through the highest quality and innovative research.
Dr Peter Sharpe, Associate Medical Director of Research and Development in the Trust, highlighted that:
“Pressures have never been higher as a result of disparities in health outcomes due to socioeconomic factors, increasing age and ethnicity, and more people living with complex and multiple long-term conditions. Research has already demonstrated its invaluable contribution in addressing some of these complex needs. To survive and succeed, the Trust must continually nurture and promote a culture of research, creativity and innovation in addressing the health and wellbeing needs of our changing society and so we are excited to unveil our plan which reflects our deep commitment in making clinical research everyone’s business.”
The Trust currently offers research skills in working with industry, cardiovascular, hand therapy, learning disability, cancer, children’s critical care, mental health, neurology, orthopaedics, renal, respiratory, rheumatology, social care and stroke.
Over the past 15 years, the Southern Trust Research and Development team have made significant contributions to local, national and international studies and have recruited many participants to key studies during this time.
Dr Maria O’Kane, Trust Chief Executive, attended the launch and in her opening speech said:
“In the Southern Trust we recognise that when a health trust is research-active, there is improved performance and patient experience and better staff recruitment and retention, when compared to low levels of research engagement.
“This exciting and ambitious plan for the next five years contributes to delivery of the Trust vision to fully integrate research and development into everyday clinical practice.”
Read the plan below:
