The SYNAPTIC Initiative
South Yorkshire Research Network for Clinical-Academic and Allied Health Practice, Training and Innovation through Collaboration.
About SYNAPTIC
SYNAPTIC is a South Yorkshire regionally-focused, innovation-driven initiative, leveraging complementary cross-institutional and multi-disciplinary expertise across healthcare to foster and develop the next generation of early career researchers and sow the seeds of collaborative solutions to some of the biggest challenges in healthcare delivery in our region.
South Yorkshire contends with a complex combination of health and wellbeing challenges with poorer outcomes compared to national averages. Socioeconomic deprivation and inequity are also features of our broad, diverse region and people living in the most deprived regions of SY experience multiple long term health conditions 10-15 years earlier than those in the most affluent areas [1,2].
There is increasing awareness that we need collective solutions to these problems through greater sharing of research expertise and best practice. Optimising collaboration across the region would impact these challenges, as well as making SY a more attractive place to work, increasing recruitment and retention, especially for early career researchers (ECRs).
We propose to develop SYNAPTIC, a multi-agency and multidisciplinary, network leveraging the rich expertise of university medical- and nursing, midwifery and allied health professional academics to work collaboratively with NHS Trusts and Community Care Organisations to provide new approaches to some of the region’s biggest healthcare challenges. SYNAPTIC will have a particular role in integrating the experience of senior researchers with the ambitions and commitment of the region’s next generation of clinical academics who will be critical in future healthcare innovation throughout SY. It will also be well-placed to contribute positively to current discussions to establish a SY Academic Health Partnership.
References
[1] Understanding Health in South Yorkshire (2023)
[2] South Yorkshire: Health report on life expectancy gap
Work packages
- WP 1.1: Working Group (months 1-3)
- WP 1.2: Identifying expertise and priorities (months 4-5)
- WP 1.3: SYNAPTIC showcase, sandpit & exemplar research projects (months 6)
- WP 2.1: Implementation (months 7-10)
- WP 2.2: Feedback/Sustainability (months 8-12)
Potential activities
Given the wide-ranging, membership-directed remit of SYNAPTIC and its initial development of 2-3 research projects, we expect that knowledge shared within the network will be multifaceted, and evolve over time. However, based on recent challenges and needs, we envisage this is likely to include: sharing of best practice and innovation in clinical-academic training; short cross-institutional knowledge exchange research placements for clinical-academic trainees to enhance collaborative research and/or healthcare delivery projects; strengthening institutional partnerships to deliver district general hospital (DGH)-based clinical-academic training positions (Academic Clinical Fellowships & Clinical Lectureships); technological implementation to enable more representative, region-wide patient and public involvement (PPI) in research design and delivery; community and/or virtual interventions to enhance clinical trial participation in marginalised communities, and; pilot interventions to promote disease early detection and/or enhance the treatment of health conditions which pose a major challenge in the South Yorkshire region.