NICHE-Leeds; Celebrating 5 years of partnership

Springfield Healthcare is a key part of NICHE-Leeds, and it was a privilege to help deliver and be part of the celebration.

The event was attended by a wide range of people: care providers, academics, family and friends of people living in care homes, Leeds City Council, a national research funder, the Department of Health and Social Care, and key national care stakeholders (for example, The National Care Forum, Skills for Care, and Care Association Alliance).

The NICHE-Leeds partners: Springfield Healthcare, Westward Care, Leeds Care Association, Leeds City Council, University of Leeds, Leeds Beckett University, and Maastricht University.

The academic director, Professor Karen Spilsbury, started the event with describing the story of NICHE-Leeds, everything we’ve achieved, and future plans.

Graeme Lee, our CEO, described what it means for Springfield Healthcare to be part of NICHE-Leeds and why it matters for residents, relatives, and staff.

Springfield Healthcare have been part of NICHE-Leeds since 2018, and on 14th September we celebrated our 5th year milestone.

The event also showcased the key roles which make the partnership work. Family of residents described the way they input and engage with research projects. Angela Randle, our Head of Kindness, Care and Quality, described her involvement and the benefits partnership working with academia can bring to our care homes. Linking Pins are another key role. Dr Reena Devi (Scientific Linking Pin) and Iria Cunha (Springfield Practice Linking Pin) in a joint presentation described their roles, and how to make this work successfully and connect Springfield Healthcare with academia. They also launched a video which described their role.

We also heard from researchers who described how they are working on developing solutions to topics that matter (for example, mouth and oral care and staff recruitment and retention).

Congratulations to all involved. We’re looking forward to continuing to be part of NICHE-Leeds!