NIHR Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce 

In 2024, the University of Salford became a partner in the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health and Social Care Workforce Research Unit (HSCWRU). The Director of the Unit is Professor Annette Boaz at King’s College London. Other partners include the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the London School of Economics. 

The unit exists to develop research knowledge in the health and social care workforce field and to disseminate findings to policymakers, service providers, employers, and patient, service user and carer groups.  

HSCWRU is an NIHR Policy Research Unit. Core funded by the NIHR’s Policy Research Programme (PRP), we also receive grants following competitive tender from a variety of other funders. We are affiliated with the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South London (leading its social care theme) and we work closely with the NIHR School for Social Care Research. See an overview of our research and more about our work as a Policy Research Unit. 

The Unit was established in January 2019, growing out of a policy research unit dedicated solely to the social care workforce, which ran from 2002-18. The current NIHR Policy Research Programme award runs for five years (2024-28) and the Unit announced its programme of work in March 2024.  

As well as publishing widely in the academic press, the Unit is the base for Making Research Count London, a subscription service which engages directly with the practitioner community. In addition, the Unit runs a broad range of events which are open to all. We also disseminate via X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, and our YouTube channel. And see the Unit blog and our news page. 

The Policy Research Unit’s Senior Management Team brings together expertise from the Business School, the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care, and – beyond King’s – from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The Unit’s Public Contributor Involvement and Engagement Advisory Group is chaired by Valerie Lipman.  

To find out more click here.