LOCAL BULLETIN

Tayside health boost as NHS and university team-up

A team-up between the NHS and Dundee University has been hailed as a major step forward for Tayside.

Health Secretary Shona Robison MSP launched the Academic Health Science Partnership yesterday, marking the start of a relationship between the university and NHS Tayside, which will attempt to collaboratively improve the health of people throughout the region.

The AHSP builds on the long-standing collaborations between Dundee University and NHS Tayside and is the first formal Academic Health Science Partnership in Scotland.

It joins an international network of similar centres in the UK, Europe, USA and around the world.

AHSP is jointly supported by the university, NHS Tayside and the Scottish Government.

The Health Secretary said: “I am delighted to be here to formally launch the partnership between the University of Dundee and NHS Tayside – The Tayside Academic Health Sciences partnership.

“This is the first example of such a collaboration in Scotland and it shows how academia and the NHS can work together to improve healthcare.”

Professor Jill Belch, university co-director of AHSP, said: “AHSP will create new opportunities and ways to harness the wealth of knowledge, experience and excellence in the university and NHS Tayside to deliver new discoveries and innovation that will improve the health of people and transform healthcare in Tayside and beyond.”

During the visit to Ninewells, Ms Robison got an insight into work delivering tangible benefits to population health.