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NIHR Health & Social Care Workforce Research Unit
The Policy Institute

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About us

 

Welcome to the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce

 

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health and Social Care Workforce Research Unit (HSCWRU) 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. The Director of the Unit is Professor Annette Boaz.

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. Researchers from King's are joined by collaborators from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the University of Salford, and the London School of Economics.

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 Bluesky (cross-posting on 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. Go to our people pages.

Unit news and events

Featured research: Studies focusing on self-neglect / hoarding behaviours

Unit people

People

Unit staff – their research interests, current projects, and publications.

Unit blog:

Unit blog:

Social work, neglect and the renewal of 'poverty aware practice'

About this website

This research unit is core funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Policy Research Programme (NIHR206121 - NIHR Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce). The views expressed here are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

If you would like to make a comment about the content of this site please contact:

Stephen Martineau