The University of Bath had a special visit from Professor Sir Chris Whitty, the Government Chief Medical Officer, earlier this month.
Prof Chris Witty and Vice-Chancellor Prof Phil Taylor | Photo © Tony Roddam / University of Bath
Professor Whitty met health and wellbeing researchers to learn more about the university’s ambitions in preventative health.
He spoke with a range of individuals and teams focused on health and wellbeing-related projects, discussing how Bath research can support current healthcare challenges in the UK.
His day began with a focus on health and the built environment, drawing on work led by the University of Bath’s Departments of Architecture & Civil Engineering, Psychology and Institute of Policy Research looking at improving housing, urban planning and the people’s health.
This included a focus on VSimulators, a major EPSRC project looking at human responses to vibrations and environmental effects in buildings, and TRUUD, a pan-university project focused on improving urban planning by better integrating health evaluation. The session was led by Professor Andrew Heath.
From there, Professor Whitty’s tour moved to The Edge, home to the new CAMERA studio at Bath.
CAMERA combines motion capture research with applications for the entertainment industry but also health technologies, including improving prosthetics.
A Research with Impact Health showcase, led by Dr Polly McGuigan and Dr Ben Metcalfe, covered diverse health innovations from Bath.
These included advanced prosthetics projects from CAMERA, the Institute for the Augmented Human; as well as applied health and medtech innovations from Bath such as advanced robotics and the ‘BathMat’ – a collaborative project with the RUH.
Over lunch, Professor Whitty met colleagues in the University’s Sports Training Village focused on public health projects, from individual level changes people can make to be healthier, to ways in which systems can be enhanced to support them.
The session was facilitated by Professor Fiona Gillison, Professor of Health Psychology and Deputy Dean for Humanities & Social Sciences.
Finally, a roundtable discussion, hosted by Professor Sarah Hainsworth, was an opportunity to bring together a range of colleagues from around the university whose work speaks to the shifts in healthcare proposed by the government.
As part of this, Professor Whitty heard from multiple Bath colleagues, including those developing systems to assess wastewater for disease, improving outcomes for patients for osteoarthritis, enhancing the function of hospital systems and developing new models for palliative care.
Professor Chris Whitty said: “The depth and breadth of the research I saw in Bath was remarkable, and much of it is directly relevant to preventing and treating disease and disability.
“The University of Bath brings together many areas of science such as engineering and sports science together with health sciences to address major health issues.”
University of Bath Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Phil Taylor, who invited Professor Whitty to the campus, added: “We were delighted to welcome the Chief Medical Officer to the University to learn more about how our health activities – from research to education and innovation – are all being applied in practice and can support current challenges he is facing.
“Our ambition is for Bath to play a much more active role at local, regional and national levels in relation to health and wellbeing.
“With the government’s 10-year plan for the NHS soon to be published, this was an important opportunity to shine a spotlight on Bath’s health offer which is focused on preventative health.”
Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) Professor Sarah Hainsworth said: “The University of Bath has a rich history of delivering applied and impactful health research and innovation.
“Our research contributes to people’s health and wellbeing locally and regionally with partners in Bath and North East Somerset Council, the Royal United Hospital and the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board.
“At national and international levels we are also shaping policies and practice, from helping people with exercise and ageing, the way in which the built environment and sustainability influence health, to preventing harms from the commercial determinants of health in areas such as tobacco, alcohol and sugar.
“In addition, not only are we helping to improve the general population health through our research, but we are also developing people with the skills and training needed for the future health workforce at a critical time for the health service in the UK and internationally.”
