Impact through innovation, teaching and research
Finding answers to society’s most challenging questions
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Finding answers to society’s most challenging questions
Impact through innovation, teaching and research
Foreword by Ann Keen
Universities play a vital role in shaping society and driving progress. As centres of knowledge creation, innovation, and human development, higher education serves as a catalyst for positive change - delivering transformation through research, which underpins the pathways needed to train the professionals of the future.
This research is varied - but what links it all is an institutional commitment to tackling economic and health inequalities, pioneering new practices, developing disruptive technologies, and influencing policy in support of a fairer, more sustainable world. We are proud that this mission sees real-world impact and is increasingly valued locally, nationally and internationally. 55% of UEL’s research was rated “world-leading” or “internationally excellent” in the 2021 REF exercise.
This section of the report highlights just two of the areas in which UEL’s research and institutional activity is contributing solutions to some of the most challenging problems facing our world today
Addressing health inequalities
UEL is playing a pivotal role in tackling the root causes of health inequalities, helping to solve NHS workforce challenges, and pioneering new approaches to healthcare in diverse communities.
Our nursing course has grown student numbers by 1500% since 2018, so now 1 in every 12 Adult Nursing students in London is studying with UEL.
In the past five years, UEL has educated over 2,200 students in health sciences subjects – over 50% of which are in subjects directly aligned to medicine.
Pioneering work in social prescribing has helped train a network of 1,000 volunteers to provide support on improving health outcomes.
UEL is part of a £5 million project to boost research into health inequalities in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
Since 2021, the Office for Students has awarded UEL £8.3m in funding to develop the Hospital and Primary Care Training Hub, with the University contributing a further £2m in capital funding.
UEL-designed software aimed at supporting people with learning disabilities to access healthcare is now used in 13 local governments and was selected by the NHS National Innovation Accelerator to scale up health service adoption nationally.
Collaborative solutions for complex challenges
Health outcomes for people living in UEL’s surrounding boroughs are poor compared to much of the country. Healthcare providers in our area must understand a complex tapestry of socioeconomic factors if they want to deliver equitable care to all. Newham is the most diverse borough in London. No one ethnic group makes up more than 15% of the population. As many as 52% of Newham’s children live in poverty, and 37% of the borough live below the London poverty line after rent. Life expectancy for males in the most deprived quintile of Newham has decreased by 3.7 years between 2014 and 2021.
UEL is committed to partnering with local and national services to overcome the challenges which cause and result from health inequity. Its research has a direct impact on its immediate communities. It’s also a vital partner in creating a medical workforce which reflects these communities for the future, increasing diversity amongst NHS staff. Through state-of-the-art training and facilities, UEL is helping tackle some of the challenges facing the UK’s modern healthcare system.
Case study: Promoting health in deprived communities
UEL’s ‘Communities Driving Change’ programme led by the Institute for Connected Communities (ICC) designed a ‘health creation’ platform for Tower Hamlets Council Public Health Team. The platform improves the health of communities by identifying issues impacting health and well-being, recruiting volunteers and developing new ways to improve the health and well-being of local people. The programme operates in the 12 most deprived neighbourhoods in Tower Hamlets. The level of engagement with the community within a six-month period resulted in 259 volunteers, 2,967 residents attending events, 827 resident-led activities initiated, 56 residents attending training around building capacity in their communities, and 176 young people being involved in the programme.
Case study: UEL RIX Centre
UEL’s RIX Centre co-developed digital tools with learning-disabled citizens, their families and communities, working with local authorities and NHS providers to put the voice of disabled people at the heart of regional health and care services. The centre was established with over £2 million investment from corporate sponsors and grant-funders and has pioneered digital health and care solutions with the local east London community since 2014.
The Centre has pioneered a ‘multimedia advocacy’ approach to health and social care for people with learning disabilities as part of a knowledge-exchange programme promoting social inclusion and challenging health inequality. The resulting RIX Wiki software has secured revenue from 13 local government contracts across the UK since 2017 and has been selected by the NHS National Innovation Accelerator to scale up health-service adoption nationally.
A pilot implementation programme of RIX software-as-service beyond London includes services in Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Oxfordshire, Cambridge, Norfolk, North Tyneside, Devon, Cornwall and North Wales.
Training the healthcare workforce of the future
It has been estimated that by 2030/31, almost half a million additional healthcare staff will be needed to meet the pressures on the NHS.
Since the academic year 2018/19, UEL has educated over 2,200 students in the health sciences field - over half of which studied subjects allied to medicine (1,265). This number has grown significantly in the past five years - in direct response to local needs and working hand in hand with local NHS trusts – with UEL’s nursing course growing from 60 students in 2018 to 1000 students in 2021/22. This includes 350 nursing apprenticeships, who work directly with NHS partners, enabling employers to develop their workforce more effectively based on local demands. UEL funds a dedicated member of staff to work alongside the integrated care board to identify where placement capacity can be increased in primary and social care settings, further boosting vital NHS workforce capacity.
UEL’s Hospital and Primary Care Training Hub has been shortlisted at the Times Higher Education Awards 2023 for Technological or Digital Innovation of the Year.
Case study: Tackling health inequalities in Newham and Tower Hamlets
UEL is a partner in the £5 million NIHR-funded Tower Hamlets Health Determinants Research Collaborative which will be a powerful collaboration between the council, local universities, and community organisations to embed a culture of research to make evidence-based decisions, making it easier to do and use research about health determinants and inequalities and to improve the health of the Tower Hamlets community. The project is part of a collaborative research effort between UEL, Tower Hamlets Council, Queen Mary University and London Metropolitan University. It aims to deliver innovative, on-the-ground research into the wider causes of health inequalities amongst some of the UK’s most diverse communities.
The University's Royal Docks School of Business and Law is also involved in a project with the London Borough of Newham that involves young people in decisions about their health and wellbeing, ensuring that their voices are heard by healthcare providers and other stakeholders. The project will involve young people, NHS health providers, youth and social groups, EDI advocates, health and social care professionals, local businesses, and researchers. It aims to develop a framework for a new social contract that involves young people in the design and delivery of youth health services. The project will be youth-led at all levels and will create 30 youth champions from among 300 young people aged 16-25. It will document and disseminate its values, principles and ways of working as examples of best practice, and aims to inspire future health leaders.
At the forefront of research into health interventions
As long-term health conditions and mental health challenges become more prevalent, GP surgeries are becoming overwhelmed by demand. Conversely, these health issues may not be treatable through prescribed medication or typical treatment. Social prescribing is a new framework of healthcare which seeks to treat patients holistically. GPs can prescribe a variety of activities, groups, and services to meet the practical, social, and emotional needs of patients.
Shaping the future through early years research
UEL is working to understand, engage, co-create and support children and families within some of the most diverse and vulnerable environments in the UK.
You can read more about our research in this area in our REF 2021 impact case study on childcare marketisation.
Early years and child development
The University of East London has a strong tradition in supporting children and families through research and training in a range of related disciplines including early childhood education and care, developmental psychology, neuropsychology, counselling, community work, global development, law, health promotion, and social work. UEL also has a 125-year history of training and supporting teachers in east London and beyond.
City living: The impact of urban environments on early childhood development
UEL’s Baby Dev Lab plays an internationally leading role in early years research, pioneering new methods to uncover how changing modern living environments affect early cognitive and emotional development. Innovative wearable technology and naturalistic brain recording techniques allow researchers to understand how early life stress affects parenting and mental health development in children. This research is of vital importance considering the dramatic increase in children being raised in urban environments. 300 years ago, 5% of children grew up in cities; now it’s 50%.
Find out more in our REF 2021 case study on early years education.
Educating the next generation of teachers
Newham has the second highest rate of child poverty in London and the lowest life expectancy of all London boroughs. High-quality teacher training, including in the early years, is therefore vital to providing young people in Newham with the best possible start in life and their education journey.
Case study: Newham Learning
Newham Learning is a partnership of over 40 schools that work collectively to give every pupil the best start in life. It aims for all the borough’s children and young people to have the best possible educational opportunities, outcomes, and life chances.
UEL is involved across the partnership, including undertaking collaborative research into early childhood development, supporting the establishment of thematic learning communities, presenting at headteacher conferences, and taking an active role in the strategic vision for the partnership through representation on its Board.
In Newham and around east London, UEL’s reputation is very strong. By reputation alone, it’s a good enough reason to work with UEL above anybody else. But the fact that it’s been in east London for 125 years, it knows east London better than any other university – that’s the unique selling point.”
David Bailey
Director, Newham Learning
Download the full report
UEL Impact Report
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