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Clinical Research Network: North West Coast launch new funding model to tackle health inequalities

  • 23 March 2022
  • 3 min read

The Clinical Research Network: North West Coast is launching a new funding model that is aiming to help more communities address health inequalities through research. The Network consists of partners from NHS Hospitals, Integrated Care Systems, Primary Care and members of our communities that make up a 'partnership' that aims to deliver research across the North West Coast region. Previously the Network has allocated funding to partners based on how many participants are recruited into clinical trials in previous years. 

Following the introduction of a new Research Delivery Strategy and a new Leadership Team at the Network a review of the old funding model has led to a few changes that will now improve how we deliver research to address health inequalities in our region. The review has been done in consultation with our NHS Partners. 

The aim of the new model is to reward system level working and those collaboration activities that have not been recognised in the past. There is a transitional period until 31st March 2024 as the old model is replaced by the new model. There are some key principles to how the new model works:  

  • During the transitional year partners will receive what they received in the previous financial year. 
  • Partners will be able to apply for additional funding from a Strategic Project budget and this budget will be open at the start of the financial year. 
  • Partners will be asked to identify workforce resource that can help the region deliver it's strategic objectives.
  • Partners are guided (where appropriate) to ensure a percentage of the overall budget is spent on Pharmacy (5%) Radiology (3%) Pathology (2%) Study Support (2%) and Radiotherapy Trial  Quality Assurance. (1%) 
  • £1,180,423 which is 6.7% of the total network's budget will be used to fund a team of staff that work in a flexible way across the region to help support research activity in acute, primary care and other healthcare settings. 
  • £423,000 will be used to fund clinical leadership roles across 32 clinical specialties. 
  • £940,000 will be used to fund research activity across primary care, public health and social care

The table below lists the 2022/23 Funding Allocations that have been made to our NHS Partner Organisations. For the 2023/24 financial year which is the final year of the existing CRN contract it has been agreed to keep existing allocations static, without any changes. 

NHS Partner Organisation Funding allocation
Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust £1,161,113
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust £928,070
Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust £231,815
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust £512,052
Marie Curie Hospice, Liverpool  £2,440
Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust £390,146
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust £1,329,157
Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust £432,633
Liverpool John Moores University £10,000
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine £10,144
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Delivery) £2,281,853
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Host) £4,896,334
Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust £512,483
Local Authorities £59,190
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust £268,908
Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust £400,710
Primary Care: CRN North West Coast £870,362
Public Health England £10,000
Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust £261,348
St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust £494,860
The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust £807,834
The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust £375,775
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust £602,243
University of Lancaster £45,574
University of Liverpool £128,724
Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust £323,563
Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust £392,684

If you have any queries about about this article please contact Jaime Halvorsen, Research Delivery Manager by email on jaime.halvorsen@nihr.ac.uk

 

 

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