• SKIP TO CONTENT
  • SKIP NAVIGATION
  • Patient Resources
    • Clinical Trial Listings
    • What is Clinical Research?
    • Volunteering for a Clinical Trial
    • Understanding Informed Consent
    • Useful Resources
    • FDA Approved Drugs
  • Professional Resources
    • Research Center Profiles
    • Market Research
    • Benchmark Reports
    • FDA Approved Drugs
    • Training Guides
    • Books
    • eLearning
    • Events
    • Newsletters
    • White Papers
    • SOPs
  • White Papers
  • Clinical Trial Listings
  • Advertise
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Home » Government backs small business with $8.1M funding boost

Government backs small business with $8.1M funding boost

January 4, 2013
CenterWatch Staff

The U.K. government is holding two new competitions, with a total of up to $8.1 million in funding, for small businesses who have ideas that can improve the experience for older people at the end of their life or improve the experience for people with mental health illnesses.

The funding is part of the government’s commitment to help improve care for patients with long-term conditions and ensure high quality care and support offered to dying people in their final days and hours.

“We need to find new ways of treating and supporting people with mental illnesses and need to ensure those approaching the end of their life are treated with dignity and respect and receive the best care and support,” said Lord Howe, health minister. “Small businesses play a crucial role in providing creative and innovative solutions to existing problems. That’s why we are supporting them through our [$8.1] million funding to tackle these challenges and make a difference to patient’s lives.”

Mental health illnesses are the single largest cause of disability in the U.K. At least one in four people will experience a mental health problem at some point in their life. The government’s “No health without mental health” outcomes strategy highlights the importance of tackling the inequalities that lead to poor mental health but also the unique and varied challenges associated with the illness.

This competition calls for creative ideas and technologies that could mean mental illnesses are diagnosed earlier, better management of the disease with a more tailored approach to care. The other competition focuses on how new technologies can help people have a better experience of end of life care. Ideas could include new technologies that provide greater comfort and help with managing pain.

“The NHS can be proud of the innovation it has introduced into the care of patients across England but we need to get smarter at making it easy for others to adopt.  Technologies that can give people a better end of life or improve the management of mental illness could make a real difference to many,” said sir David Nicholson, chief executive of the NHS.

The competitions are part of the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), a cross-government initiative that aims to promote U.K. economic growth whilst addressing public sector needs. Previous SBRI competitions called for technological and innovative solutions to change people’s behavior in order to reduce the impact of obesity and alcohol related diseases and solutions to improve the number of patients taking their medication as prescribed. Contracts have now been awarded to the successful organizations and work is now underway to turn these innovative ideas into commercialization stage and ultimately NHS adoption.

The application process is run through Health Enterprise East, the NHS Innovation Hub for the East of England. All applications should be made using the application forms, which can be downloadedfrom www.hee.org.uk.

    Upcoming Events

    • 16Oct

      MAGI@home Clinical Research Conference 2023

    • 25Oct

      2023 WCG Patient Forum

    • 26Oct

      FDA in 2024: What to Expect in an Election Year

    Featured Products

    • Surviving an FDA GCP Inspection

      Surviving an FDA GCP Inspection: Resources for Investigators, Sponsors, CROs and IRBs

    • Best Practices for Clinical Trial Site Management

      Best Practices for Clinical Trial Site Management

    Featured Stories

    • Donna Snyder

      New WCG Executive Physician Outlines Goals for Clinical Research

    • Hand Shake at Meeting

      Partnership to Bolster Trials in Low Resource Regions Kicks Off

    • Guidelines-360x240.png

      Major Industry Groups Offer Feedback on ICH’s E6(R3) Guidelines

    • AsktheExpertsBadge-360x240.png

      Ask the Experts: Monitoring

    Standard Operating Procedures for Risk-Based Monitoring of Clinical Trials

    The information you need to adapt your monitoring plan to changing times.

    Learn More Here
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell or Share My Data

    Footer Logo

    300 N. Washington St., Suite 200, Falls Church, VA 22046, USA

    Phone 703.538.7600 – Toll free 888.838.5578

    Copyright © 2023. All Rights Reserved. Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing