An Academic Health Science Centre for Cambridge

The University of Cambridge, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust and Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, have signed a statement of intent to establish a partnership that will become an Academic Health Science Centre for Cambridge.

The partnership will combine the strengths of the member organisations in pursuit of outstanding excellence in clinical care, clinical education and health research so as to improve services to patients and population health. The partners will work together to accelerate the translation of new discoveries into improved disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The partnership will also generate wider economic and social benefits in the Greater Cambridge area.

The partnership will also have as its objectives the integration of clinical care, clinical education and health research. A steering group has been formed of representatives of the four organisations to develop the partnership to deliver these objectives and with the intention of preparing a bid for designation as an Academic Health Science Centre under the recently-announced Department of Health initiative. It would be hoped that such a Centre could be established by the summer of 2009.