The Centre for Health Futures aims to be a hub for excellence in research, innovation and professional development for health and care organisations. Working in partnership, we apply both academic and practice perspectives to innovate for better patient care and a healthier population.

The Centre for Health Futures focuses on business and management perspectives, contributing to Lancaster University’s wider expertise and aims through the Health Innovation Campus and collaboration with colleagues in other Faculties.

We should like to thank the Integrated Care System, Healthier Lancashire and South Cumbria and the Innovation Agency North West for their financial support. We are working collaboratively with them to develop some strategic priorities. We are also working with other agencies locally as part of the Innovation Agency North West SEED Health alliance.

Our region’s distinctive geography, with small cities, medium-sized towns and a great rural expanse, provides a novel focus for our work. There are specific challenges in delivering health and care in an area with post-industrial economic and social problems. We have the opportunity to share our expertise nationally and globally where similar issues arise.

The challenges we face include:

• Delivering high-quality, sustainable services in sparsely populated areas;
• Health inequalities and poor health outcomes with wider impacts on productivity and the economy;
• Difficulties in staff recruitment and retention.