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The National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care West (NIHR CLAHRC West) has announced the first round of research projects that it will be working on in the first part of 2015. A full list of the projects is available on the CLAHRC West website.

Bristol Health Partners Health Integration Teams (HITs) have several successful projects going ahead. These include:

• Evaluation of the health impact and costs of new investment in psychiatric liaison services at University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust (Improving Care in Self Harm (STITCH) HIT)
• Low versus high dead space syringes: an investigation into user preferences and attitudes (Addictions HIT)
• Systematic review: What is a healthy neighbourhood environment (Supporting Healthy Inclusive Neighbourhood Environments (SHINE) HIT)
• Understanding the causes and reasons behind avoidable hospital admissions in people living with dementia: bringing together national and local data (Dementia HIT and the Avoiding Hospital Admissions (ITHAcA) HIT)
• Evaluation of telephone clinic service for patients with chronic kidney disease (Chronic Kidney Disease HIT)

CLAHRC West's Ethnography team, led by Sabi Redwood, will also undertake a preliminary evaluation of the HIT model, including clarification of the HIT concept and theory behind the programme. A project led by David Evans, CLAHRC West's patient and public involvement (PPI) team lead, will also look at developing PPI expertise and resource in HITs.

Bristol Health Partners Director David Relph said: "These projects offer a unique opportunity to progress the work of the Health Integration Teams in a meaningful way. CLAHRC West only takes on high quality research projects which lead to real improvements in health in the West, so it is heartening that so many HITs have been successful in this first round. We hope that the evaluation of the HIT model will be a valuable tool in helping other parts of the West, and beyond, develop similar groups to effect real change in health and care locally. Congratulations to all those involved in the successful bids!"

These HIT projects are part of a range of proposals that have been supported by CLAHRC West. Other projects include:

• Impact on depression of financial hardship and the recession
• Feeding up frail patients before surgery to improve outcome
• Assessment of outcomes among hospital patients using routine methods of data collection
• Working with the Somali community resident in Bristol on improving outcomes for children who have neurodevelopmental disorders
• A review of the clinical impact of MgSO4 and a neuroprotector in pre-term birth and evaluation of the suite of innovative approaches to embedding change in clinical practice
• Qualitative evaluation of telephone outreach to enhance uptake of NHS health checks in more deprived communities
• Reach West: facilitating participation in research by patients and the public
• Using patient complaints and patient stories as a training tool
• Quality of patient journey through acute care
• A database of PPI gatekeepers, groups, key individuals and databases held by organisations in the West
• Public workshops to generate research ideas

CLAHRC West Director Jenny Donovan said:

"The range and scope of this first round of projects submitted by the health community, including HITs, has been very impressive. The projects being taken forward show a wide range of activity, from evaluating existing or proposed services, to reviewing and building evidence, and all are aiming to improve health and care across the West. We look forward to working collaboratively with all our partners on these, and future, projects. The response to our first call was fantastic, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the research proposal and idea applicants who have helped us develop such an exciting programme of work."

To hear more about their work, follow CLAHRC West on Twitter.