Health Services & Implementation Research Professor appointed Director of NIHR Health Services & Delivery Research Programme

Prof Jo Rycroft Malone.Prof Jo Rycroft Malone.Professor Jo Rycroft-Malone, of Bangor University has been appointed director of the National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research (HS&DR) Programme. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the largest funding body for applied health research in the UK. Prof Rycroft Malone follows Professor Ray Fitzpatrick when he steps down from his role leading the HS&DR Programme at the end of October 2015.

Professor Rycroft-Malone, who has the Chair in Health Services & Implementation Research, has an international reputation when it comes to ensuring translation of evidence for best practice in healthcare into practice. She studies the processes, interventions and outcomes for improving health services and care delivery through mixed methods research.

In addition to heading Bangor University’s School of Healthcare Sciences, Prof Rycroft-Malone is editor of the International Journal of Health Policy and Management and an editorial board member of BMC Implementation Science and Academic Lead for Impact at Bangor University.

Chief Medical Officer, Dame Sally Davies FRS RMedSci, expressed her thanks to the current director and welcomed the new appointment saying;

“Jo has an international reputation for research and I’m sure she will build on the success of the programme, enabling further high quality research to be funded into the quality, accessibility and organisation of health services.” 

Speaking about her appointment, Professor Rycroft-Malone said “I am delighted to have been appointed to this role and look forward to leading the NIHR Health Services and Delivery Research Programme for the next few years.”

The Health Services & Delivery Research (HS&DR) Programme is one of the NIHR funding streams. It funds a broad range of research to produce rigorous and relevant evidence on the organisation and quality of health services, including costs and outcomes. Projects funded through this programme are successful because they have the real potential to make a positive impact on the way in which health services are delivered and therefore on outcomes for patients. 

Publication date: 26 November 2014