About us
Bristol Health Partners is a strategic collaboration between our universities, health and care providers, commissioners and councils. We improve the health of those who live in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, and the delivery of the services on which they rely. We act as a mechanism for change in our health and care community and our region.
Our membership
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.
As a membership organisation, we serve the needs of our members and the people living in our area, rather than the agenda of a distant funding body.
Our membership is broad and includes commissioning 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.
In recognition of our academic excellence and international expertise, 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.
What makes us different?
We work in a focussed, topic-specific way through our Health Integration Teams (HITs). They tackle health priorities by harnessing and translating the best research, innovation, care and education to make a difference to people’s health. 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.
As a membership organisation that drives integration, our people are our strongest asset. We champion ambition and coherence, and 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. Our Board, Research and Innovation Steering Group, and Health Integration Teams showcase the finest talent the region’s health and care community has to offer.
Bristol has considerable health research strengths, and we help make the most of them through integrating academia, the health service, social care, public health, commissioning and the voluntary sector. 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 professionals to make the most of opportunities to do this.
We focus on the people of Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset. We also aim to develop close links with other organisations in our region and neighbouring regions. But what works here will very likely work elsewhere: our work and research can and should have national and international impact.
