Research on the design, delivery, impact and improvement of health services is a key strand of the Plymouth Institute of Health and Care Research’s work. Our Health Services researchers have expertise in designing and testing new healthcare methods with the aim of making healthcare provision more effective and sustainable, as well as evaluating specific services, such as community-based mental health services. In addition, we study the delivery of non-clinical services, like social prescribing or dietetic interventions, and the adaptation of health services in the face of both short-term (for example Covid-19) and long-term challenges (such as an ageing population).
Our research is often conducted through the involvement of practitioners and the public, who are instrumental in helping to develop focused research questions and in designing projects. Studies are frequently directed towards those individuals who suffer inequality in society, which helps us work towards reducing inequalities in healthcare provision. We work closely with a variety of partners across the region and the wider UK, and are part of the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration for the South West Peninsula (PenARC).