Plans submitted for new £3 million research centre at Bradford Royal Infirmary

A new research centre to be established at the Bradford Royal Infirmary has taken another step forward as building plans have been submitted for approval.The Wolfson Centre for Applied Healthcare Research brings together researchers from the Universities of Leeds and Bradford with clinicians from Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.Its aim will be to help to improve the health and wellbeing of children and the elderly, and also the safety of patients in hospitals and clinics. It has been made possible thanks to a £1m award from national charity the Wolfson Foundation.The Wolfson Foundation is a charity awarding grants to support and promote excellence in the fields of science, medicine, the Arts and humanities, education and health and disability.Now plans for the centre have been submitted to Bradford Council’s area planning panel, seeking formal approval to turn the groundbreaking research centre idea into a reality.By combining the expertise of health researchers with clinicians who have daily contact with patients, the centre will ensure that its findings are put rapidly into practice.It will address three key health priorities including how to reduce inequalities in the health and development of young people and to pinpoint early-years interventions which are most effective. The Wolfson Centre will also develop new models of care for elderly patients, those with dementia and those facing musculoskeletal conditions. It will also work to improve systems of care for the terminally ill. And the centre’s research will develop new methods of safe, patient-centred care, as well as harnessing the potential of new technologies.