On 5th December 2018 a broad range of delegates from the NHS, HE and related public sector organisations attended the Health Service Modelling Associates (HSMA) Presentation Seminar, the closing event of PenCHORD’s 2018 HSMA Programme. The HSMA Programme is a joint initiative between PenCHORD (PenCLAHRC’s Operational Research team) and the South West Academic Health Science Network (SW AHSN) that aims to support the increased use of Operational Research for development and decision making within the health service.

Each year a number of health service employees (Associates) are given training, a mentor and day release, one day a week, to tackle a...

This August saw the first International Summer School Riga (ISSR), which was hosted and organised by Rīga Stradiņš University, Latvia. The week-long school drew in students of business, economics, healthcare and social sciences, plus researchers and academics from across Europe. The event focused on the question ‘How can we solve challenges in healthcare systems by applying economic modelling?’, and was explored through presentations, interactive workshops and skills exchange sessions.

Prof Martin Pitt and Dr Sean Manzi were invited to run workshops at the summer school and give students a hands on introduction to techniques for economic modelling in healthcare. Their participation was...

Staff from NHS Trusts across the South West came together with PenCLAHRC researchers to celebrate the success of an innovative programme aimed at tackling problems faced by the health service.

The Health Service Modelling Associates (HSMA) programme, run by our operational research team PenCHORD, is designed to embed the skills and knowledge needed to develop and use computer models to support decision making within the NHS.

The pilot programme culminated in a showcase event, held at the University of Exeter Medical School yesterday. Participants presented their project findings and shared how both they and their organisations have benefited from the scheme.

Over the past year,...