KSS AHSN is pleased to announce the recruitment of four Implementation Leads for the Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) KSS.
Announced in July 2019 by the Department of Health and Social Care, the ARCs support applied health and care research that responds to, and meets, the needs of local populations and local health and care systems.
ARC KSS is one of the 15 ARCs across England and a part of a £135m investment by the National Institute of Health Research, the nation’s largest funder of health and care research, to improve the health and care of patients and the public.
The new Implementation Leads are directly employed by KSS AHSN but will be working on ARC KSS’s four core research themes:
- Living well with Dementia: translating research to better care to help people to live well with dementia - led by Kath Sykes
- Social Care: person-centred, community-based social care - led by Becky Sharp
- Primary Care: sustainable and integrated care focusing on people living with chronic conditions and marginalised groups - led by Sam Fraser
- Starting Well: early detection and intervention of mental health problems in children and young people - led by Becca Randall
Speaking on behalf of the team, Kath Sykes, Living well with Dementia Implementation Lead, said:
"Our primary focus is ensuring the voice of the people accessing or delivering health and social care services are at the heart of ARC research questions and activity.
“Through bringing people together and hearing their stories, we will understand needs, gaps and opportunities, to ensure the ARC research activity addresses the needs of our populations, including hard to reach groups, across Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
“Since starting in role, we have had to adapt to the systems needs and challenges in response to COVID-19, and have readjusted our activities and engagement accordingly.
“We are really looking forward to supporting and engaging with our stakeholders and service users, as we all adapt to new ways of working across the system.’’
Des Holden, Medical Director at KSS AHSN and Implementation Lead for the ARC KSS, welcomed the new recruits.
“Our Implementation Leads will play a key role in bringing real world knowledge to the ARC KSS’s research questions, which will help to ensure that the research will be seen as important at the front line where care is delivered, and therefore adopted into practice,” he said.
“The other benefit of working in this way is that the communities of practice that form around these themes can help articulate their needs to other AHSN partners, including industry and educationalists.
“The ARC implementation leads therefore not only underpin the success of the A of ARC, they help the AHSN deliver its core NHSE and Office of Life Science commission as well.’’
22 June 2020
Summer 2020 newsletter out now
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The latest edition of our Bulletin is out now.
(302 KB)
Find out what we have been doing during our first year of operation including: how we have been busy introducing the ARC KSS to our member organisations, communities and academic partners; prioritising COVID-19 related activity and how we have been busy building up the team.
