Policy Research Units (PRUs) across England are set to receive more than £100m from the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR).
The number of PRUs is increasing from 15 to 20. New units will cover addiction, dementia, and palliative and end of life care, as well as reproductive health – a new PRU set up as part of the Government’s women’s health strategy.
The PRU system, which has been running since the 1970s, brings together researchers from collaborating institutions to study health and social care issues, enabling them to inform the Government’s policy decisions.
Each university-based unit will receive £3-£5.5m over three to five years, with the new units starting work in January 2024.
The larger Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit has an anticipated budget of almost £10.5m over five years.
NIHR chief executive Professor Lucy Chappell said: ‘The NIHR's new PRUs are designed to provide strong evaluation of policy. This helps Government and related organisations to be able to act on the latest evidence when making decisions about health and social care that could impact us all.
‘We are funding PRUs across a range of key areas of policy ranging from cancer screening to social care.
‘Several new topics will expand the ability of the units to help address the major healthcare challenges that we are facing, including improving reproductive health, tackling addiction as well as dementia and neurodegeneration.’
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