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<p>The Department-designated Academic Health Science Centres (AHSCs) along with the
Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) and the National Institute for Health Research
(NIHR) Applied Research Collaborations (ARCs) are all important components of the
country’s health research and innovation ecosystem.</p><p>The six current Department-designated
AHSCs were made on the basis of an open competition, which was open to eligible National
Health Service and University partnerships across England. The recommendations for
designation were made to the Department by an international independent panel.</p><p>The
remit of the Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) has recently been expanded to
become the umbrella body across the United Kingdom health innovation eco-system. The
AAC has been asked to consider the role of new AHSCs within the health system and
to ensure that they complement the innovation landscape, rather than add further complexity
to it.</p><p>It is not possible to provide specific details of the scope and nature
of the new designation process at this stage given that the AAC is currently actively
considering this. However, it is expected that the future designation process would
be open to all NHS and University partnerships across England which meet the published
specification to apply, including partnerships in areas of England where there is
currently no Departmental-AHSC. As with the previous AHSC designation process, any
future process will be run via a full and open competition, assessed by an independent
expert panel. Rigorous conflict of interest policies will also be in place throughout
the process for all involved to ensure any potential conflicts are dealt with appropriately.</p><p>The
existing Departmental-AHSC designation will be extended until the end of March 2020
to enable a new designation process to be undertaken. The Department’s expectation
is that AHSCs will play an increasingly important role in the health innovation and
research landscape over the coming years.</p><p>As currently, the success of any newly
designated AHSCs will require close interplay and cooperation between research infrastructure,
including NIHR Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs) and the NIHR ARCs, and with the
AHSNs and wider innovation landscape.</p><p>As part of annual monitoring of the existing
Department-designated AHSCs, examples of innovations arising from them have been reported
to have been made available to patients in the NHS. These include:</p><p>- The King’s
Health Partners Heart Failure Service, which brings together clinical, research and
educational expertise to deliver world class heart care in south London, helping people
with heart failure live longer and with better quality of life;</p><p>- University
College London Partners AHSC adoption of a Learning Health System to standardise data
entry and allowing the widespread trialling of novel tools to detect atrial fibrillation
early;</p><p>- The Manchester AHSC working with partners to align research around
core health and social care priorities; and supporting the roll out of a single blood
test driven decision-aid for patients presenting with chest pain at local emergency
departments; and</p><p>- The roll out of the innovative Sleepio app by the Oxford
AHSN to support those suffering from insomnia across Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.</p>
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