HIT research funding

More than £2.4 million secured by HITs in 2020-21

Bristol Health Partners Health Integration Teams (HITs) have attracted over £2.4 million in research and services funding to Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire during 2020-21, for 30 different projects.

Here are some of the highlights:

The Sexual Health Improvement Programme (SHIP) HIT was instrumental in securing a £500,000 Health Foundation grant to set up Common Ambition Bristol, co-producing research with African and Caribbean heritage communities to increase uptake of HIV testing and address stigma.

Active People Promoting Healthy Life Expectancy (APPLHE) HIT was successful on several fronts, including £500,000 for a new project looking at green social prescribing, and funds to continue to support the hugely successful Bristol Walk Fest.

More than £400,000 awarded to our Drug and Alcohol HIT will be used to model and evaluate elimination of the Hepatitis C virus amongst people who inject drugs in England.

Our Chronic Pain HIT has received funding for several new studies, including nearly £250,000 to explore the feasibility of a tailored sleep intervention in patients undergoing total knee replacement.

Psychological Therapies in Primary Care (InPsyTe) HIT has been granted almost £150,000 to understand ethnic inequities in pathways to mental health services.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans can detect early signs of brain disorders. An £85,000 donation from the University of Bristol’s Development and Alumni Relations Office will enable our Movement Disorders (MOVE) HIT to develop research in this area.

Air pollution has been a focus for our Supporting Healthy Inclusive Neighbourhood Environments (SHINE) HIT, who received almost £50,000 from the NIHR for a study into transport movements and air quality outside the Bristol Royal Infirmary and Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.

OIiver Watson, Bristol Health Partners’ Joint Chief Operating Officer, said:

“Year on year, our Health Integration Teams attract funding to deliver an impressive range of projects: from co-designing interventions with communities, to feasibility studies and randomised control trials. Building the evidence base to improve health and care across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire is hugely important work, and we are especially proud of our HITs’ contribution to this effort in 2020-21, under what have been uniquely challenging circumstances.”