Research in our region

Lots of organisations in the region are involved in health and care research.

Bristol Health Partners helps make the most of our local research strengths through uniting academia, health and care services, public health and system planning and decision-making. We apply science to service delivery and improvement, so that change is more effective and more likely to succeed.

We feed this into our local Healthier Together Integrated Care System through a Research & Innovation Steering Group.

Academic Health Science Centre

Bristol Health Partners is an Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC), one of only eight in the UK. This designation recognises the academic excellence and international expertise in our region and adds value and credibility to the health and care research happening here.

Between April 2022 and March 2023, Bristol Health Partners Health Integration Teams enabled more than £10 million of research funding for health and care projects across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

Find out more about what being an AHSC means and how it could help your research funding application.

National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) in Bristol

The NIHR is the nation’s largest funder of health research. Through its universities and hospitals, Bristol hosts key NIHR infrastructure, as well as attracting millions in NIHR grant funding every year.

Find out more about what each part of the local NIHR does, who it’s designed to help, and where Bristol Health Partners fits in.

Involving patients and the public

Involving patients and the public is essential to making sure research is successful and meaningful. Bristol Health Partners empowers health and care professionals to tackle this challenge head on through our unique approach to public involvement. We have a shared, strategic team called People in Health West of England, which covers all the health networks in the West, including the NIHR and Health Innovation West of England.

Do you have lived experience of a health condition and want to help with research? Browse our Health Integration Teams, who each work on different aspects of health and care. Or find out how you can help via the NIHR.

Research in emergency care (REACH)

REACH is a regional collaborative hub in emergency care research, led by researchers from two of our partners: the University of the West of England and the University of Bristol. It builds on the work of the Avoiding Hospital Admissions Health Integration Team (ITHAcA), which aimed to reduce avoidable hospital admissions in the region. Go to the REACH website