University welcomes integration of health and social care in Greater Manchester

The University of Manchester has welcomed the news of proposals for the integration of health and social care services in Greater Manchester, providing more opportunities for the benefit of local people.

President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell said: “A distinctive feature of Greater Manchester’s way of working is the close co-operation between local authorities, universities and healthcare providers.

“For a long time people, including many of the leading researchers at the University, have been calling for health systems in the UK to be more joined up – ensuring that the care given is more effective and an efficient use of resources.  This proposal appears to open up this possibility for our region.

“While there is much yet to be done, this presents new opportunities for us to work with our partners to improve health for the people of Greater Manchester, identify new avenues of research and provide new opportunities for our students and graduates.”

Greater Manchester has some of the poorest health outcomes in England with low life expectancy, and high rates of obesity, heart disease and cancer. The University is active in addressing all of these issues, with researchers developing new treatments, influencing policy and practise and conducting public awareness campaigns.

As part of this, the University is a member of the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre – alongside six NHS organisations – which aims to effectively link researchers across the city-region with patients and healthcare providers to deliver the latest research effectively. 

The University also works with leading charitable funders of research, such as Cancer Research UK, to deliver cutting-edge research into issues like cancer, which are major global health priorities.

Dame Nancy believes that the devolution proposals for Greater Manchester could allow this integrated process to flourish further.  She said: “Clearly there is a lot more work to be done on how this new system would look and how it will operate in practise, but if all of the organisations involved continue to work together as closely as they do now, then Greater Manchester has the opportunity to be one of the country’s best providers of joined-up care.”

Notes for editors

Media enquiries to:
Jamie Brown
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 2758383
Email: jamie.brown@manchester.ac.uk