Researchers who specialise in optimising health services worked with health trusts to produce evidence that secured £8 million in funding for a new mental health ward at Torbay Hospital.

The new ward, which will be operated by Devon Partnership NHS Trust (DPT), will reduce the number of placements that have to be made away from Devon, keeping people closer to home for their care and treatment.

The research, which involved University of Exeter academics, was supported by PenCHORD (the Peninsula Collaboration for Health Operational Research and Development), PenCLAHRC's operational research team. 

PenCHORD is a group of specialists that help healthcare professionals, commissioners and patients...

PenCLAHRC’s Operational Research team, PenCHORD (the Peninsula Collaboration for Health Operational Research and Development), are a group of specialists that assist healthcare professionals, commissioners and patients make informed decisions about change in the NHS using Operational Research (OR). The team run an annual Health Service Modelling Associates (HSMA) programme where they provide a number of health service employees from across the South West with training, a mentor and day release, one day a week, to tackle a work based research project that can be used by the NHS Trust to solve a specific issue or question.

Karl Vile, Programme Manager for...

On 5th December 2018 a broad range of delegates from the NHS, HE and related public sector organisations attended the Health Service Modelling Associates (HSMA) Presentation Seminar, the closing event of PenCHORD’s 2018 HSMA Programme. The HSMA Programme is a joint initiative between PenCHORD (PenCLAHRC’s Operational Research team) and the South West Academic Health Science Network (SW AHSN) that aims to support the increased use of Operational Research for development and decision making within the health service.

Each year a number of health service employees (Associates) are given training, a mentor and day release, one day a week, to tackle a...

Deputy Director of PenCLAHRC, Professor Ken Stein, and Director of PenCHORD, Professor Martin Pitt, have written an article for The Operational Research Society’s Impact magazine, in which they discuss the ways PenCHORD research has informed decision making within the NHS.

PenCHORD (the Peninsula Collaboration for Health Operational Research and Development) are a team of Operational Research (OR) specialists, who aim to help healthcare professionals make informed decisions around organisational change. The initiative was established in 2008, and in the years since the team have worked with all of the trusts across the South West.

Professors Ken Stein and Martin Pitt have...

Phase 1 of the 2018 Health Service Modelling Associates (HSMA) Programme has now been completed and Phase 2 has just launched.

The HSMA Programme is a joint initiative by PenCLAHRC and the South West Academic Health Science Network (SW AHSN), run by PenCLAHRC’s Operational Research team, PenCHORD. Working directly with staff from NHS organisations across the South West, the programme aims to support the increased use of Operational Research (OR) within health service development and decision making, and to work towards a culture where OR methods are routinely used within the NHS.

Following the highly successful HSMA pilot in 2016, a second round...

*Please note that registration for the Open Day on Wednesday 6th December has now closed*

Following a hugely successful first round of the Health Service Modelling Associate (HSMA) Programme, a second round of the scheme – HSMA 2018 - has been launched, a joint initiative between PenCLAHRC and the South West Academic Health Science Network (SW ASHN).

The HSMA Programme is a scheme run by PenCLAHRC's operational research team, PenCHORD. Working directly with staff from NHS organisations in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, the programme aims to support the increased use of operational research within health service development and decision making. A number of NHS staff from...

As a partnership of NHS Trusts across Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, plus the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, we aim to work with healthcare professionals, policymakers and the public to identify areas of research that reflect the real needs and concerns of the health service in the South West. 

We have been working in partnership with Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust (PHNT) since PenCLAHRC’s inception in 2008. Below are some examples of projects which have resulted in real change to the way the Trust works.

Set up five years ago, the South West Anaesthesia Research Matrix (SWARM) is a trainee-led audit and research...

As a partnership of NHS Trusts across Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, plus the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, we aim to work with healthcare professionals, policymakers and the public to identify areas of research that reflect the real needs and concerns of the health service in the South West.

Highlighting how this works in practice, we’ve brought together some of the work carried out with the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT).

Sarah Black, Research Manager at SWASFT, shares her view of the partnership between the ambulance service and PenCLAHRC:

“We’ve always found working with PenCLAHRC a really rewarding experience. They get research...

“With the HSMA programme, we have developed an exciting new way for the NHS to engage with the power and potential of simulation modelling in a meaningful way.  It means that NHS organisations across the region can build their in-house capacity to build models that inform decisions whilst seeing real impact for the organisation. 

Dan Chalk, Research Fellow in the PenCHORD team and lead for the HSMA programme

To mark the end of the first year of our Health Service Modelling Associates (HSMA) programme, we’ve launched a new website to showcase the impacts that this innovative scheme has had on NHS Trusts across the...

As a partnership of NHS Trusts across Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, plus the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, we aim to work with healthcare professionals, policymakers and the public to identify areas of research that reflect the real needs and concerns of the health service in the South West. 

Highlighting how this works in practice, we’ve brought together some of the work carried out with the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust (RD&E).

The RD&E has been our host organisation since 2014 but since our inception in 2008, we have worked together on projects that have resulted in real...