About us
Bristol Health Partners is a strategic collaboration between our region's universities, health and care providers and decision-makers, and councils.
We use evidence to improve the health of those who live in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, and the delivery of the services on which they rely. In doing so, we act as a mechanism for change in our health and care community and our region.
Our region has considerable health and care research strengths. Through our partnership, we help make the most of these by connecting academia with the needs and ambitions of communities, the health service, social care, public health and the voluntary sector. On 1 April 2020 we were made an Academic Health Science Centre by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), NHS England and NHS Improvement.
Our membership
As a membership organisation, we serve the needs of our members and the people living in our region. Our membership is broad and includes system decision-making and public health, which is rare among England’s health partnerships. This means we do not focus solely on illness, but also address lifelong health and how to prevent illness in the first place.
Thirteen organisations working across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire are members of Bristol Health Partners. Find out more about our partners and our affiliate members.
We also aim to develop close links with other organisations in our region and neighbouring regions.
How we work
As a collaborative organisation, we provide a platform for people to work together across the health and care system. We bring together experts from the region and further afield to tackle the challenges we face, support the priorities set by local leaders and drive change across our region.
We work in a focused, topic-specific way through our Health Integration Teams (HITs). They tackle health and care priorities by harnessing and translating the best research, innovation, care and education to make a difference to people’s health and care. Our HITs must evaluate, involve patients and the public, and have a whole system approach. This pioneering approach to research, health service and public health integration can help solve seemingly intractable problems and ensure that the most successful ideas are spread.
We apply science to service delivery and improvement, so that change is more effective and likely to succeed. Involving patients and the public is essential to success, and the partnership empowers health and care professionals to make the most of opportunities to do this.
