Call for Innovative Research Projects: 10k to Improve Patient Health

QResearch® has announced details of this year's QInnovation Award which recognises innovative research to improve the nation's health - with a grant of up to £10,000 for the winner. Now in its second year, the award is inviting entries from UK research teams involved in projects that are likely to benefit patients or improve clinical care in primary, secondary or community health.

Entries will be officially accepted from 1 November 2013 until 5pm on Friday, 31 January 2014.

Last year, a project led by GP Dr Tim Walter from Falkland Surgery in Newbury was one of two to win a £10,000 grant from QInnovation. Dr Walter's team looked at diabetes risk identification and intervention.

A judge on this year's panel, Dr Tim Walter has seen the benefit of QInnovation funding first hand. He said: "Thanks to QInnovation, together with support from the CCG, we were able to screen 113,000 patients for diabetes risk using www.qdiabetes.og and invite those identified to take part in a specially designed weight and fitness management course. Nearly a third responded. Using the research results we’ve been able to develop a step-by-step toolkit for CCGs to follow with at-risk patients that ultimately could help save lives. This can be found at www.predm.co.uk."

The winning team must include at least one member with postgrad research experience, and the research must be completed within 2 years of the award.

QResearch® is a not-for-profit partnership between EMIS Group - the UK leader in clinical IT systems for joined-up patient care - and The University of Nottingham.

The winning team will receive:

  • data from QResearch® - one of the largest GP research databases in the world
  • 2-3 days of time from an expert epidemiologist/statistician
  • Up to £10,000 to support the research or its dissemination

Dr Julia Hippisley-Cox, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology and General Practice at Nottingham University and co-founder of QResearch® said: "We launched QInnovation last year hoping that it would stimulate research innovation in primary care. It certainly did that. This year, we are opening up the award to the wider healthcare landscape while retaining the core requirement - the project must demonstrate potential to deliver real clinical benefits and improve patient health. I have no doubt this year’s entries will be equally impressive."

Dr Shaun O'Hanlon, Chief Clinical Information Officer at EMIS, said: "Improved patient care is at the heart of everything EMIS does - it's my job to ensure our systems deliver clear clinical benefit. It is both exciting and a privilege to be involved with this award and recognise innovative research projects built around the same ethos."

To enter the award, go to http://www.qresearch.org/SitePages/QInnovation.aspx to complete the application form.

QResearch is a non-profit making venture run by the University of Nottingham in collaboration with EMIS Group plc. More than 750 EMIS practices, representing around 15 million patients, regularly contribute to the database. The system anonymises and uploads practices' clinical data to the central database. Then, to protect patient confidentiality, the data are further anonymised and the figures are totalled to produce data that are suitable for research.

The University of Nottingham, described by The Sunday Times University Guide 2011 as ‘the embodiment of the modern international university', has 42,000 students at award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. The University aims to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health.

EMIS Group plc is the UK leader in clinical IT systems for joined up patient care.

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