About us

Welcome to the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce (HSCWRU) exists to develop research knowledge in the health and social care workforce field and to disseminate findings to policymakers, service providers, employers, and patient, service user and carer groups.

The Unit, part of the Policy Institute, is led by Jill Manthorpe CBE (left), Professor of Social Work at King's. The Unit's Senior Management Team brings together expertise from the Business School, the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care, and – beyond King's – from the Institute for Fiscal Studies and Imperial College London. The Unit's Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Advisory Group is chaired by Valerie Lipman.

HSCWRU is an NIHR Policy Research Unit. Core funded by the NIHR’s Policy Research Programme, we also receive grants following competitive tender from a variety of other funders. The Unit was established in January 2019, growing out of a policy research unit dedicated solely to the social care workforce, which ran from 2002-2018. As well as publishing widely in the academic press, the Unit is the base for Making Research Count London, which engages directly with the practitioner community. We also run a broad range of events for practitioners, policymakers, members of the public, and academics in the field.

Unit news, events and Twitter

21 March 2023

Homelessness and public health impacts of housing-led interventions

Major new study examines the health impacts of providing housing plus intensive forms of support

20 March 2023

Discussing homelessness, self-neglect and safeguarding with social work students

Jess Harris was at Brunel University

22 Mar

Showcase of social care research in NIHR Policy Research Units - 2

22 March 2023

Hosted by the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Adult Social Care

Tweets by NIHR Health & Social Care Workforce Research Unit

Featured research: A three-study series on Personal Assistants in social care

In the first study (2016-17):

We described their skills, their work, and the nature of their relationship with their employers.

In the second (2020) study:

We collected information about the impact of COVID-19 on Personal Assistants' working lives.

In the third (ongoing) study we are asking:

What enduring impact has COVID-19 had on working life for Personal Assistants?