DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release issued by The Government News Network on 30 May 2008
The
Government's commitment to improve social care services will
be given a boost with a new National Institute for Health Research
School for Social Care Research, Care Services Minister Ivan Lewis
announced today.
This follows the launch by the Prime Minister of an intense six
month debate about the future shape of care and support services
earlier in the month, in advance of a Green Paper.
The new School will be part of the National Institute for Health
Research (NIHR) and will receive £3 million funding a year, for
five years in the first instance. It comes after the successful
establishment of the NIHR School for Primary Care Research in 2006.
Launching a call for applications from the research community to
join the new School for Social Care Research Ivan Lewis said:
"Society is going through huge change, and so in turn social
care must change to meet the challenges of the 21st century".
"A rapidly ageing population means that in 20 years'
time a quarter of the entire adult population will be over 65 and
the number of people over 85 will have doubled. We expect almost 2
million more people to have care and support needs in 20 years time.
"We want to improve the evidence for social care practice so
we can be sure that people in this country are provided with
better and more effective services in the future. This new School
will make a major contribution to improving the volume and quality
of the research in the English social care sector."
Social care affects the lives of about 1.25 million people and
their families in England. The School will reflect the profile of
modern social care, which is provided by a range of different
agencies in a variety of contexts. Its work will help to improve
the quality of care services for all those who use them.
The School will focus on social care practice. It will include
research by social care professionals as well as academics, and
encourage active collaboration with service users and their
carers. It will draw on a wide range of academic disciplines and methods.
Professor Sally Davies, Director of Research and Development at
the Department of Health said:
"The new NIHR School for Social Care Research will give
researchers the time and funding to ask the important questions
and improve our understanding of what works, what doesn't
work and why. This new NIHR School will provide considerable
benefit to the health and well-being of the population through the
new knowledge gained."
Notes to editors
1. The National Institute for Health Research provides the
framework through which the research staff and research
infrastructure of the NHS in England is positioned, maintained and
managed as a national research facility. The NIHR provides the NHS
with the support and infrastructure it needs to conduct
first-class research funded by the Government and its partners
alongside high-quality patient care, education and training. Its
aim is to support outstanding individuals (both leaders and
collaborators), working in world class facilities (both NHS and
university), conducting leading edge research focused on the needs
of patients. More information about the National Institute for
Health Research is available on its website at: http://www.nihr.ac.uk.
2. The National Institute for Health Research's progress
report "Transforming Health Research the first two
years" can be downloaded from the NIHR website at: http://www.nihr.ac.uk/about_progress_report.aspx.
3. Details of the call for applications for the new School for
Social Care Research can be obtained from the NIHR website: http://www.nihr.ac.uk/
4. The intention to publish a Green Paper on the future of care
and support was announced in the 2007 Comprehensive Spending
Review. The Green Paper is expected in 2009. To inform it, the
Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Department of Health launched
a debate about the future shape of care and support services on
Monday 12th May this year.
5. The public will be able to contribute to this debate through a
series of events and through a new national website http://www.careandsupport.direct.gov.uk