you are here: home | specialist grants | what are specialist grants

What are the BUPA Foundation specialist grants?

The BUPA Foundation board decided to offer this different category of grant in order to develop a more proactive way of funding. Themes are within the main focus areas for the Foundation, but represent a move towards a commissioning approach.

Each year a call for submissions on a specified topic in one of the BUPA Foundation focus areas is made. The focus areas are chosen in turn on an annual basis.

The specialist grants programme began in 2001 when the BUPA Foundation committed £600,000 to fund medical research aimed at reducing adverse events in patient care. In 2002, the BUPA Foundation committed £600,000 to research that examined the role of patient choice and education in health care. In 2003, the Foundation called for proposals that promote innovation in surgery.

The BUPA Foundation donates approximately £1.5 million per year through its medical research grants, grants for medical research on a specific "theme" and its annual Foundation awards, the vast majority of which go to medical research teams in NHS hospitals.