This August saw the first International Summer School Riga (ISSR), which was hosted and organised by Rīga Stradiņš University, Latvia. The week-long school drew in students of business, economics, healthcare and social sciences, plus researchers and academics from across Europe. The event focused on the question ‘How can we solve challenges in healthcare systems by applying economic modelling?’, and was explored through presentations, interactive workshops and skills exchange sessions.

Prof Martin Pitt and Dr Sean Manzi were invited to run workshops at the summer school and give students a hands on introduction to techniques for economic modelling in healthcare. Their participation was...

The escalating cost of healthcare is a problem common to all EU countries and national governments are looking at different ways to tackle this. There is often anxiety that managing costs will mean healthcare becomes more dangerous or risky - however this does not have to be the case.

A network of healthcare stakeholders from 24 EU countries has been set up to develop ways of containing costs whilst maintaining, or even improving, the quality of healthcare. PenCLAHRC’s Professor Nicky Britten is one of just two UK representatives on the Action’s Management Committee, whilst Dr Helen Lloyd and Dr Mark Pearson are...

A series of courses designed and run by PenCLAHRC are helping to put evidence at the heart of an organisation’s decision-making process.

Designed to empower NHS staff to use the latest developments in research, guidance and technology, the training is delivered by the CLAHRC’s experts in operational modelling, PenCHORD.

In an effort to give healthcare managers experience in computer simulation, PenCHORD recently ran a session attended by the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT).

Hannah Trebilcock, a Clinical Audit Officer at SWASFT, was one of those in attendance who was quickly able to put her new skills into practice.

Back at base...