Annual Report 2023 - 2024

We are delighted to share the first Annual Report of the Health and Care Research Wales Evidence Centre.  

Evidence Centre Annual Report 2023/2024

The report showcases our rigorous, timely, and relevant research, which addresses evidence needs for the Welsh Government, the NHS, Social Care Wales, and other key stakeholders. 

During our first year, we received 145 questions from our stakeholders. Through collaboration with our five partners, we were able to take 29 of these health and social care questions onto our Work Programme. Reports from 14 pieces of research are already available in our report library, together with the associated lay summaries and infographics.  

Highlights include:

• collaborating with Health Technology Wales in a rapid review to measure mental health in a cost-of-living crisis. The report is currently referenced in the draft Welsh Government Equality Impact Assessment.
• the work conducted by Cardiff Evidence Synthesis Collaborative into the safety of ‘special procedures (e.g. tattooing, piercing) ,’ is being used to help inform Part 4: Special Procedures of the Public Health (Wales) Act 2017, and practitioner guidelines.
• working with Public Health Wales and Social Care Wales we looked at ways to support older adults to overcome challenges they may face with accessing or understanding the digital world.
• work to help inform the re-design of dental service provision in Wales, in a way that meets patients’ needs and expectations.
• Bangor Institute for Health & Medical Research examined the costs, benefits and value of palliative care services to help inform the Palliative and End of Life Care Programme Board. 

The Evidence Centre’s Public Partnership Group (PPG) of 10 members has played an important role in the Centre’s first year of work. They are involved in all our research, including helping to refine the research questions, understanding the relevance of the findings, and writing lay summaries to accompany all our final reports.

We are very grateful to our funder, the Welsh Government (funded via Health and Care Research Wales). 

Over the next four years, the Evidence Centre will continue to address a wide range of important health and social care issues, which affect the people in Wales.

All reports are published in the Report Library. Click the link to view our current Work Programme.