The National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) has launched the NIHR Outcomes Framework to define and evidence the institute’s progress in addressing the needs of patients, the public and the economy.
Developed in collaboration with over 400 partners and stakeholders, including the government, the research community, patients and the public, the new framework will help to achieve these outcomes, and to track its progress, each outcome has one or two indicators.
Out of a total of 20 outcomes divided into four categories – addressing needs, economic benefit, effective research and productive partnerships – each domain consists of five outcomes that portray a change that the NIHR wants to achieve in that area.
As part of its Best Research for Best Health: The Next Chapter, published in 2021, over the next few years the NIHR will publish four domain reports about the framework.
In the first Outcomes Framework report focused on addressing needs, the NIHR provided evidence of its commitment to prioritising the diverse needs of patients, carers and communities, as well as ensuring that the research is accessible, inclusive, impactful and meaningful.
The report included the following:
- How research leads to better outcomes and innovative products and services, as well as changes to policy and practice
- How well NIHR research prioritises public health and social care needs
- Whether NIHR research consists of diverse regions and settings
- Whether NIHR research findings are widely cited and free to access
- How NIHR activities contribute to reducing health inequalities and improving outcomes for people and underserved communities.
From 660 reported examples between 2020 and 2021, three main areas of implementation that were determined to improve health – policy and practice – were changes needed for patients and service users, health service delivery and practice, and developing the health and social care workforce.
Moving forward, the NIHR will collect and publish data on progress on a regular basis, providing transparency, accountability and a commitment to improve to partners and stakeholders, as well as learning from the data to guide decision-making.