The Academic Centre for Healthy Ageing is dedicated to improving the health, wellbeing and care of older adults people in North East London and beyond.
In 2023, we invested £6.6m to establish an Academic Centre for Healthy Ageing (ACHA). The launch in April 2025 marks a new era for healthy ageing.
This new centre is a landmark collaboration between Barts Charity, Barts Health NHS Trust and Queen Mary University of London. Based at Whipps Cross Hospital, it will focus on improving the health, wellbeing, and care of older adults in North East London and beyond.
ACHA is dedicated to improving care and support for older people in North East London through research, education, and training. It will connect research to a collaborative network of clinicians, researchers, educators, policymakers and, most importantly, the local community.
Healthy ageing means that people stay in good health, can live independently and participate to their full potential in society as they get older.
People are living longer, but not always with good health and wellbeing. This is particularly an issue in East London. Not only is there a growing number of older people who need care to live well, but for some in our community, poor health comes at a much earlier age than elsewhere in the country. We want to make sure older people’s lives remain as healthy, independent and enjoyable as possible.
In the UK, there are gaps in research, education and training focussed on healthy ageing and frailty that needs to be addressed. ACHA will help to improve understanding of how we manage conditions as we age, and transform how services support people as they grow older.
ACHA’s research will be focused on:
Through education and training, ACHA will apply this research to change how care is delivered. This will help reshape, upskill and grow the local health and care workforce. Patients will benefit from this improved care, and caregivers will have new opportunities for career development.
A key facet of ACHA’s work is placing the community at the heart of all activities. For ACHA to make a real difference to the lives of local people, the views and needs across the diverse community of East London. More about this approach can be viewed on ACHA’s website.
"As part of our mission to respond to the health needs of our East London community, we have invested £6.6m in ACHA. I’m really looking forward to seeing what ACHA will achieve through working with local people, health and care staff. I’m sure we will see huge impact in improving care and support for people as they grow older.”Fiona Miller Smith, Chief Executive of Barts Charity
12 years ago, Nigel was out running one day when he fell awkwardly and broke his ankle and shoulder. He was taken to A&E at Whipps Cross Hospital where he was treated.
“The staff did an absolutely fantastic job looking after me,” Nigel explains. But he could also think of some suggestions of how things could be improved.
When Nigel first heard about ACHA and its dedication to working closely with patients, carers and the local community, he jumped at the chance to join their Community Advisory Group.
Nigel is the Chair of the ACHA Community Advisory Group.
“It was a chance to see in practice ways that patient experience and insight could be used to help make sure that what matters to patients gets proper consideration. If you put the experts in a closed room, they may not see the priorities that people on the ground have, but having insight from patients means that they are aware of the issues that matter across different East London communities.”
In mid 2025, Nigel was appointed as the Chair of the ACHA Community Advisory Group.
“People across the country are living longer and longer. A huge amount of NHS funding is spent on a person in the last few years of their life. Finding ways of helping people age well, minimising the consequences of ageing, and dealing with the inevitability of ageing are huge priorities. ACHA are bringing academics and healthcare together to find more effective ways of doing this.”Nigel, Chair of the ACHA Community Advisory Board
A new study by researchers at Queen Mary University has found that four in ten UK GPs are currently using AI-powered “scribes” to document patient consultations. This highlights the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence in primary care, despite continuing concerns about patient safety, liability and regulation.
Ahead of No Fizz February, researchers at Queen Mary University of London have been looking at how they can tackle sugary drink consumption among local young people.
We’re supporting Queen Mary University of London to develop the next generation of biomedical researchers, whose focus will be on improving the health of East Londoners.
You can help us ensure people in East London live longer, happier lives.
