NHS partnerships announced

Seven NHS research partnerships are to receive 64 million pounds to improve care in major conditions troubling the public health, the government has announced.

The new National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaborations for Health Research and Care, between the NHS and universities, were selected by an independent international selection panel and will start work in October.

They will research conditions including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity.

Public health minister Dawn Primarolo said the funding will improve the health of people across England and there would be am emphasis on conditions that caused “chronic distress” to patients and were a “significant issue” for the NHS.

Professor Sally C Davies, director general of research and development at the Department of Health, added: “The NIHR Collaborations ? will be conducting this work at the front line of the NHS so the benefits and findings from research can be swiftly incorporated into routine clinical practice.”

According to NHS figures, obesity causes more than 9,000 deaths a year in England.