TCD participates in HRB Research Centre to tackle specific health needs

Apr 04, 2008

The Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney, TD announced €5 million in funding through the Strategy for Science Technology and Innovation (SSTI) on 3 April last for the establishment of a Health Research Board (HRB) Centre for Primary Care Research. The centre involves researchers from Trinity College Dublin, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), and Queens’ University Belfast (QUB), the Coombe, Tallaght and St James’s Hospitals and its virtual base will be in the RCSI.
 
The research team will undertake a programme of work that examines the quality of care provided to vulnerable patient groups - the elderly, children, pregnant women and drug users.

Through the research programmes the team hopes to:

- identify quality standards for safer prescribing of medicines for Irish patients,
- improve diagnosis in primary care so that patients receive appropriate and timely treatment or referrals if required
- develop new Information and Communications Technologies that will improve patient care and promote self-management among patients with chronic illness.

Announcing the funding Minister Harney said: “Scientific and health research are sectors which open up great potential for those who are committed to innovation. It is a clear sign of progress to see national health priorities being targeted in a coordinated manner that will focus expertise and effort, help achieve economies of scale and encourage information sharing that will lead to improvements in patient care”.