The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has awarded £1.3 million to South London and Maudsley (SLAM) NHS Foundation Trust to pay for new research equipment and technology.
It will include a digital and virtual reality (VR) centre and hub at the mental health trust, along with a centre for advanced neurotherapeutics and retinography equipment.
SLAM said the VR centre will be located at Bethlem Royal Hospital and support the extension of research into the technology as a therapeutic tool for many mental health conditions, including psychosis, mood disorders and eating disorders. It will also support research into a range of behaviour based interventions around discrimination, phobias, stress reduction and physical activity.
The virtual reality CAVE (cave automatic virtual environments) will allow environments to become an immersive shared experience and also reduces the impact of VR motion sickness.
The hub will offer remote options and develop ways to carry out research at different sites.
Expanding the offer
Carrie-Ann Black, head of nursing for research and quality at SLAM, said: “I am delighted that we can expand our digital and virtual reality offer to the Bethlem Royal Hospital.
“Central to the trust's research and development strategy is ensuring every patient has the opportunity to be involved in research alongside the care they receive. Funding the development of innovations like these play a vital role in ensuring equality of access to research opportunities.”
Dr Matteo Cella, clinical psychologist for the trust, said: “This is an exciting opportunity to increase the use of extended reality technology across different conditions and services. This technology is safe, liked by service uses and offers unprecedented opportunities to improve therapy engagement and outcomes.”
The funding is part of a £30 million investment from the NIHR to 36 NHS organisations across England to deliver cutting edge research to improve the prevention, management and treatment of disease.
SLAM said the money will also increase NHS capacity to deliver commercial clinical trials, which will bring innovative medicines to patients earlier.
