Dr Melanie Rees-Roberts (Centre for Health Services Studies) has recently received a funding award from NHS Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to support primary care research across the county.
Primary care and general practice (GP) services face significant challenges with unprecedented demand and COVID pressures, and there is little evidence for what works best for primary care provision alongside significant workforce challenges. Over the last five years, strong academic links with primary care providers in Kent and Medway have been established. These links with the University of Kent can help improve care quality, efficiency, staff satisfaction, recruitment, retention, and population health through generating and using evidence that creates solutions for challenges in care provision.
Through these links, NHS Kent and Medway CCG now ranks as the highest generator of Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) research capability funding amongst GP services in Kent, Surrey and Sussex. The team at the Centre for Health Services Studies is pleased that this upfront funding, dedicated for research, will support a stronger partnership between the University, local primary care services and commissioners that aims to generate research to improve outcomes and experience of care for patients in cost efficient ways.
Melanie said: “This has been a culmination of at least seven years’ work with local GPs, GP practices and partners to grow and conduct more research focussed on GP services in Kent and Medway. This additional funding reflects the depths of talent and research ideas there are in Kent and Medway and how, as researchers, we can work together to do more research to inform care.”
Congratulations to Dr Rees-Roberts on this achievement.