Newcastle and the North East region
The NIHR Newcastle BRC plays an important role in the health ecosystem of the wider North East England region.
Across the partnership we are an exemplar of the positive impact world class translational research has on prevention, diagnosis and treatment of age-related disease now and in the future. In the region, Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle University are anchor organisations; creating and supporting a sustainable health system, while leading and influencing research delivery and policy, nationally.
Globally, both have ambitions to realise their capability internationally using our outstanding foundations, enhancing our global reach.
North East England faces a range of social and economic challenges, of which poor health is a major contributing factor.
In Newcastle:
- the chance of dying under the age of 75 is 20% higher than in the South of England
- the number of people aged 65-74 in the area will grow by a third by 2028, with the over-85 age group the fastest growing sector, increasing by 58%
- life expectancy is lower than the national average and, significantly, the length of time that people spend in poor health – 20.4 years for men and 25.0 years for women – is higher than the national average
As our ageing population rapidly increases, and inequalities in healthy life expectancy expand, multimorbidity will become the norm.
The North East has a rapidly growing older population, as well as stark economic inequalities and the associated ill health and low life expectancy projection risks that can be linked to this, and thus has a huge challenge to innovate to improve economic performance, reduce inequalities, and increase wellbeing of its ageing citizens. See our Ageing Syndromes page for details on how we’re doing this at the NIHR Newcastle BRC