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Strategy
The Bupa Foundation is an independent medical research charity, Registered Charity No.277598
Dedicated to providing support for the prevention, relief and treatment of ill health, for the public good.
Aims
The charitable objects (intentions) expressed above give rise to two aims:
- To advance the knowledge base in clinical and health science
- To advance the translation of Foundation-funded research into health gain.
Objectives
The Foundation's three main objectives are:
- Supporting clinical and health research
- Disseminating Foundation funded research
- Encouraging its application.
1. Supporting Clinical Research
The Bupa Foundation supports high quality medical research in three ways:
Project grant funding - medical research grants
From 2006 these will be considered twice yearly, in February and November (Closing dates October of the previous year and July, respectively).
- Surgical research and development
- Epidemiology and preventive medicine
- Communication and health information between health professionals and patients
- Mental health of the elderly
- Health at work.
The Foundation does not apply set maximum or minimum grants, except in relation to term, which may be up to three years only. For longer programmes, another application will need to be made at the appropriate time, in competition with other applications submitted on that occasion to allow for the continuation of the study.
Specialist grants - annual themed competition
From 2005 this will be held in May each year, with a closing date at the end of January.
An annual specialist grant competition for up to £750,000 of funding for one or more projects over one, two or three years.
A specific call for submissions in the area of one of the categories for general grants will be made each year by the Bupa Foundation Board.
The specification will be advertised on the Bupa Foundation web site and in appropriate journals etc. in the clinical/medical press.
Initially for UK based entries only, the competition is now open to those based in the UK, Australia, Eire, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and (from 2006) Spain.
Past themes include:
- Consumer involvement in health care
- Surgical innovation with potential for making significant changes in practice
- Exploitation of clinically-relevant data-sets
- Health and care of older people
Annual awards - awarded in November, the closing date is in July each year.
Entries about pieces of work on health and care that are already completed are assessed by expert panels of judges in each category. The panels will usually include a Bupa Foundation Governor. The majority of panel members are external specialists appointed for expertise in each particular area.
They are awarded as recognition of excellence in completed work. There are six categories, each offering a £10,000 prize as reward and to assist with future work. These are:
- Research
- Epidemiology and preventive medicine
- Health at work
- Communication
- Clinical excellence
- Care
Awards are advertised in January/February each year, with a closing date in early July.
Full details of awards entry criteria and the application process
Please note: categories of grants, specialist grants and Awards as described above relate to these areas as at November 2005. The Chairman and Board of Governors of the Bupa Foundation reserve the right to amend and/or add to these as they consider appropriate, at any future date.
Grants - assuring quality and value for money
Project and Specialist Grants are competitively assessed for their scientific quality and value for money by means of a three-stage process:
- Shortlisting by Foundation Governors as soon as possible following the closing date
- All short-listed applications undergo expert peer review
- Final judging at appropriate meetings throughout the year, by Foundation Governors, informed by the advice from peer reviewers.
2. Disseminating foundation funded clinical research
The Charities Act imparts a burden of responsibility on the Foundation's Trustees to ensure that the results of any research supported by the Foundation are disseminated in the public interest.
Beyond this, in the spirit of scientific enquiry, the results of such work should be available as openly and widely as possible to the scientific and medical communities and the public, including patients.
The Bupa Foundation therefore takes the following steps to actively encourage and further the dissemination of Foundation funded research findings.
We ask that grant holders ensure that the Foundation is informed, if possible in advance, of any publications arising from their research projects as well as presentations at any conferences, to assist in raising awareness of these.
* The Governors are aware of the advent of open access journals and at the November board meeting in 2004 decided not at that point to encourage and fund researchers to publish in them, but to review the situation in September 2006.
When accepting Foundation grants, researchers also agree to assist with the board's efforts to inform the public (of research studies of particular public interest) about clinical and health research.
Seminars are arranged, as appropriate, to disseminate the results of Foundation funded research.
Previous seminars:
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Evidence Based Medicine, Royal Institution, March 2003
This first seminar featured the work of two projects on health information funded by medical research grants from the Foundation. These were the Knowledge Now project (UCL) and the Evidence Based Medicine project (Oxford Pain Research Unit), which included the Bandolier web site and magazine.
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Making Healthcare Safer, Royal College of Physicians, October 2004
With partners including the National Patient Safety Agency and BMJ Quality in Health Care. This featured projects from the Reducing Adverse Events initiative of 2001 by Imperial College, London; AVMA; Queen's Medical Centre Nottingham, Newcastle Upon Tyne NHS Trust.
Next seminar:
- A seminar on Consumer Involvement in Patient Care is currently in the planning stage for October 2006.
3. Encouraging the application of foundation-funded research
The Board circulates details of Foundation-funded research or award winning projects that Governors consider of national importance to interested parties including NHS Trusts, Strategic Health Authorities, Medical Directors of Hospitals etc., as appropriate.
Strategy development
In developing this strategy the Bupa Foundation has been informed:
- By the Research Outcomes Study carried out for The Bupa Foundation in 2003.
- By briefing notes, guidance and other research strategy papers issued by the AMRC and fellow AMRC members including the MRC and Wellcome Trust.
Strategy review
The strategy will be monitored annually by Governors at the September board meeting each year.
Full review will be carried out every five years, following further outcomes studies.
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