About us

LSE Health is affiliated with the Departments of Social Policy|, Management| and  Accounting|. It was established in 1995. The Centre's unique research base contributes to the LSE's established world presence and reputation in health policy, health economics and demography.

LSE Health's mission is to advance, transmit and sustain knowledge and understanding through the conduct of research, teaching and scholarship at the highest international standards, for the benefit of the international and national health policy community. LSE Health aim's to expand and improve conceptual frameworks, apply new methodologies, encourage debate about issues raised by research developments and introduce new questions or themes that will contribute to policy discussions. The Centre is committed to interdisciplinary research that benefits policy makers and health professionals. To support this mission the Centre's key priority is to recruit, develop and retain staff of the highest quality and provide a working environment that enables staff to optimise their contribution to the Centre.

LSE Health is a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Health Policy and Pharmaceutical Economics. It is a founding member of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies|, which supports and promotes evidence-based health policy-making through comprehensive and rigorous analysis of the dynamics of health systems in Europe. The Observatory is a partnership between the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, the Governments of Belgium, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the Veneto Region of Italy, the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, the World Bank, UNCAM (French National Union of Health Insurance Funds), the London School of Economics and Political Science and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.   

The Centre supports a number of international research infrastructures. It co-ordinates the European Health Policy Research Network (EHPRN)| which comprises a number of centres of excellence from both the UK and the continent. The network publishes eurohealth|, a quarterly periodical which has become a primary platform for policy makers, academics and politicians to express their views on European and comparative health policy developments.

LSE Health supports the Health Equity Network (HEN)| which aims to discuss, disseminate and promote equity objectives in various health systems in the world, especially on the fair allocation of health care resources.

The Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) is one of the leading social care research groups, not just in the UK, but internationally. Since its establishment in 1974, PSSRU| has had considerable impact on national social care policy in the UK and in a number of other countries. PSSRU has also established itself as the leading European group on mental health economics and policy, and has an excellent worldwide reputation for its work in this field.

A branch of the PSSRU was established at LSE in 1996, following more than 20 years of policy and practice research at the University of Kent at Canterbury. In the same year a PSSRU branch was opened at the University of Manchester. 

Directed by Professor Martin Knapp, PSSRU at LSE carries out policy analysis, research and consultancy in the UK and abroad. The Unit's current research programme focuses on needs, resources and outcomes in social and health care, with particular emphasis on economic aspects of community care, residential and nursing home provision, social care markets and commissioning, long-term care finance, and mental health policy. The PSSRU has long had close and productive links with policy makers in the UK and elsewhere.

PSSRU's mission is to conduct high quality research on social and health care to inform and influence policy, practice and theory.

Associated with this mission are the following aims:

• To conduct long-term research to help shape the developments of social and health care systems, in the UK and internationally, while also responding to more immediate research needs;
•  To develop and employ rigorous research methods from a multidisciplinary base;
• To examine the performance and functioning of social and health care finance, organisation and delivery, with a particular emphasis on promoting efficiency and equity;
• To conduct research that meets the best standards of research governance;
• To work towards greater user involvement in research;
• To disseminate research findings to a variety of audiences through a variety of media; and
• To develop the research and related skills of PSSRU staff.

Since January 2008, PSSRU has been awarded just over 50 new research grants, totalling £9 million, and has been involved in a number of key policy and practice discussions, such as the Dilnot Commission on the Funding of Care and Support, building community capacity, making the economic case for mental health promotion and prevention, and (jointly with the Kent branch) the evaluations of the Individual Budgets Pilot Scheme and the Partnerships for Older People Projects (POPP).

The School for Social Care Research (SSCR), funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)|, formally began work in May 2009. Led by Professor Martin Knapp (LSE) and with a budget of £15 million over five years, the SSCR is a partnership between six leading social care research centres in England and many more universities and other entities. This follows the success of NIHR's first such research School - the NIHR School for Primary Care Research|. SSCR's mission is to develop the evidence base for adult social care practice in England by commissioning and conducting world-class research.

The School's goals are to:

• commission and conduct high quality research
• provide the focus for social care research within NIHR and promote the general development of social care research
• develop methodological rigour and broaden the methodological repertoire
  consult widely on research priorities
• contribute to ongoing efforts to build social care research capacity and improve research awareness
• disseminate findings and support other knowledge transfer activities.

To date, SSCR has commissioned 21 research studies, 5 scoping reviews and 16 reviews of methods.

SSCR has been consulting widely with key stakeholders to ensure that the research  commissioned is relevant to social care practice, and provides support to those working within social care. SSCR has consulted with many individuals and groups, including people who use services, carers and practitioners, through meetings, workshops, an online research suggestion process, SSCR's Advisory Group and SSCR's User, Carer, Practitioner Reference Group.

Visit our website for more information: www.sscr.nihr.ac.uk.|