University secures £2.6 million contract to remain as centre of excellence

The University of Southampton has been awarded significant funding to remain at the forefront of how clinical guidance and policy is made. The £2.6million grant, to be given over five years, has been awarded to the Southampton Health Technology Assessments Centre (SHTAC) by the Department of Health National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

Through systematic reviews, economic evaluations and critical assessments of evidence, SHTAC provides independent assessments of the benefits, harms and costs of trials, treatments and tests.The work directly informs key NHS decision-making bodies and other policy customers, such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in developing clinical guidance.

The new contract will run from 2016 to 2021 and is the fourth five-year contract SHTAC has secured to act as an NIHR centre of excellence, raising over £14 million in research funding for the University of Southampton.

Professor Andrew Clegg, Director of SHTAC, commented: “The success in securing a fourth five-year contract is a reflection of the quality and rigour of our research. It is underpinned by the skills and endeavour of the group and the community of clinicians, service providers, academics and patient representatives that advise and support us.

“Our role in providing independent research and advice is essential. It helps ensure that decisions regarding the use of health technologies by the NHS, and their public funding, reflects an unbiased assessment of the evidence of their clinical and cost effectiveness. SHTAC’s position as a centre of excellence is important to the Faculty of Medicine and the University of Southampton, providing recognition of its world-leading research in health technology assessment.”

More information about SHTAC is available at http://ilmt.co/PL/WBX