News Release

Martin Roland CBE, a leading health services researcher in the United Kingdom, will join RAND Europe as a special advisor effective 8 September, RAND Europe President Jonathan Grant has announced.

Roland serves as director of both the National Primary Care Research and Development Centre (NPCRDC) at The University of Manchester and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Primary Care Research, where he was a founding Director. While continuing his leadership at both organisations, Roland's part-time appointment at RAND Europe is aimed at further developing its health policy research programme. To allow time for his new appointment, Roland will step down as head of the School of Community-based Medicine at Manchester University.

“Martin's experience and expertise will be invaluable assets to the development of our health services research,” Grant said. “There is no doubt that RAND Europe will benefit from his appointment and we look forward to getting down to work.”

RAND Europe, a not-for-profit research institution based in Cambridge, UK, is part of the larger RAND Corporation, which has more than 200 staff devoted to research in health and healthcare policy. Roland's work at RAND Europe will include developing collaborative links between RAND health researchers and UK universities, particularly those in Manchester and Cambridge.

“This appointment will allow me to do more research. I look forward to having more time to examine new opportunities to develop health services research in the UK, using RAND Europe as a new base,” Roland said.

Roland's personal area of research at NPCRDC relates to measuring and improving the quality of care in the NHS. His previous areas of research include back pain, hospital referrals, out-of-hours care, and nurse practitioners in general practice. He is an elected fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and has spent 29 years in general medical practice, working most recently at Rusholme Health Centre in central Manchester.

About RAND Europe's health research

An independent, not-for-profit research institution, RAND Europe has offices in Cambridge, UK, and newly in Brussels, Belgium. Its mission is to help improve policy and decision-making through research and analysis.

RAND Europe provided analytical support to the UK Department of Health's internationally acclaimed R&D strategy, Best Research for Best Health, a project that has significant potential for improving health in the UK by supporting high-quality research focused on the needs of patients and the public.

RAND Europe is developing a health services research programme that focuses on a set of key themes in health care policy. These include the improvement of health care quality and efficiency, and the evaluation of health care policy and new medical technologies. Examples of research currently undertaken by RAND Europe include: modeling the response of patients to increased hospital choice, impact assessments of policy options for the European Commission with respect to secondary smoking, organ donation, patient safety and food labeling, and the importance of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to contain costs and improve quality of health care.

For information on our other wide-ranging and interdisciplinary research, visit www.rand.org/randeurope.