Acute and Critical Care Research Group
Understanding how health conditions, treatments and other interventions impact on patients and their families and testing the impact of these treatments and interventions is necessary to improve both clinical care and patient outcomes. Care delivered in the acute and critical care setting is performed by a range of different members of the healthcare team, and this multidisciplinary nature of the work is reflected in the project teams formed to undertake research in this area.
Development of a strong evidence base to underpin acute and critical care practice enables improved processes of care and improved outcomes for patients and their families. The focus of the Acute and Critical Care Research Group (ACCRG) is the continuum of care for patients with acute/critical illness or injury.
Aims
The aims of this group are:
- To facilitate and promote collaborative and interdisciplinary research in acute and critical care. The group focuses on developing an evidence base for care delivered within the acute hospital setting.
- To develop an international network of healthcare practitioners and researchers in acute and critical care some of whom may work in, or for, external institutions (including hospitals and other universities). In this way, the ACCRG acts as an externally facing entity representing a developing area of research concentration and excellence.
- To provide an environment for research training and development to grow capability and capacity in evolving areas of acute and critical care research to enable progress towards applying to become a research centre.
- The National Health Service spend on acute care has grown faster than any other area, increasing in real terms by £10 billion between 2020/21 and 2021/22, now accounting for over half of total system spend. Given the magnitude of expenditure in this area, it is essential to develop research in acute and critical care to ensure that patient outcomes are optimised, and that treatments and interventions are cost-effective.
Background
To build research capacity and develop the research culture, Professor Leanne Aitken founded the Acute and Critical Care Research Group (ACCRG) in 2017. Under the new research centre structure, the group was formalised in 2024 to build on previous successes.
Opportunities have been identified within the ACCRG at City St George’s, University of London to develop collaborations with clinicians and researchers from the Clerkenwell and Tooting campuses. St George’s Hospital has many acute, critical care, and emergency care beds and a diverse multi-disciplinary workforce from these areas creating a large pool of potential researchers and clinical academics with an acute and critical care focus who may benefit from membership of the ACCRG.
Within the School of Health and Medical Sciences there has been an increase in early career researchers whose doctoral research focused on acute or critical care. The ACCRG provides a suitable space for their post-doctoral career progression.