Grants of up to £20,000 are to be made available to encourage medical researchers to put their ideas into practice. Private health care providers Bupa are making the money available as part of the Philip Poole-Wilson Seed Corn Fund. The organisation was established and named after the governor of the charity that carries out independent medical research died in March this year. The money will primarily be aimed at pilot studies, especially those that haven’t had any financial backing in the past or could be used to bring together a team to bring a research proposal into reality. These new studies are vital for science and the innovation of new techniques that could improve the healthcare of patients in the future, especially for private health care patients. It is these that will eventually have access to these new treatments and techniques first, as they are often too expensive for the NHS to afford. People who wish to have access to pioneering treatments that may arise from important studies like these may wish to take out a quote for private medical insurance.


Surgery and preventative medicine are just a few areas of medical research that are high priorities for the awarding of these grants. Epidemiology is another field that will be allocated some funds, as well as mental health of the elderly. Working practices of medical staff will also feature, including communication between themselves and patients. Dr. Andrew Vallance-Owen, Bupa Foundation deputy chairman told Medical News Today, “Getting these pilot studies off the ground is essential for the medical research breakthroughs of the future.” With the private health care provider funding the projects, it might be that any resulting new practices may be used first in their private clinics, which are used primarily by private health insurance policy holders.