The UK government has announced an investment of over £800m in funding for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to support specialist research facilities for experimental medicine and patient safety research.

The funding will help to generate new treatments and improve the delivery of healthcare services to support experimental medicine research and advance UK’s response to patient safety challenges.

Approximately £790m has been granted to 20 NIHR biomedical research centres (BRCs) across England over the next five years to foster innovation in the diagnosis and treatment of disease across several high-priority disease areas, such as cancer, mental health, and dementia.

Additionally, £25m has been granted to 6 NIHR patient safety research centres (PSRCs) for the next five years to better understand and address patient safety concerns.

It also intends to support the research to enhance incident reporting and investigations, and digital developments to enhance patient safety.

The UK government said that the funding will be distributed across the country, with over £260m being invested outside of London, Oxford and Cambridge.

This will assist to improve health and care services nationwide and reduce health inequities by better understanding and treating sickness and improving the delivery of care. It will also enable more areas to benefit from innovation and speed up the uptake of research where it is conducted.

NIHR chief executive officer Lucy Chappell said: “This huge investment into early-stage health and care research and patient safety innovation recognises the strength of expertise in these areas across the country, and gives our best researchers more opportunities to improve care and treatment for patients nationwide.

“These investments showcase our scientific excellence, ensuring that the UK benefits from the latest innovations and advancements in research and enabling a strong and competitive research workforce to be further developed.

“They are crucial to ensuring that patients receive the highest quality, safest care.”