A step closer to formal AHSC recognition

Published: 10 February 2009

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and its academic partner Imperial College London have moved a step closer to formal academic health science centre (AHSC) designation after being shortlisted into the second round of the AHSC designation process.

The announcement by the Department for Health means that the partnership will now submit a second document setting out a more detailed vision and information on our financial position and governance arrangements. On March 2 a group of 10 to 12 key people from the two organisations, including the Trust chairman, chief executive, a CPG director and a head of research, will attend an interview with an international panel of eminent scientists, clinicians and AHSC leaders from some of the best medical centres around the world. A designation announcement is then expected later in March.

Professor Stephen Smith, chief executive of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and principal of Imperial College London's faculty of medicine, said: "We are delighted to have made it through to the next round and look forward to presenting our final submission to the international panel.

"We believe being designated will help us in our mission to discover more new diagnostics, therapies and approaches that we can deliver to our patients faster than ever before. Formal AHSC status would be a valuable asset and would confirm our place in the premier league helping us to attract the best people, create new research and educational opportunities for our staff, develop new sources of funding and provide the highest quality of care to our patients and population."

If successful, formal designation will mean our integrated AHSC model will be one of a small number of collaborations that are best able to realise the synergies between research, education and health services to deliver better patient care. Recognition, according to the Department of Health, will then allow AHSCs to flourish at a faster pace and allow UK institutions to compete with the best in the world.