Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to encourage and enhance research and development within the NHS.

There are a number of ways in which research and development is encouraged and supported in the National Health Service.

The enactment of the Health and Social Care Act was a milestone for research in the NHS, recognising the need to promote research and the use of research evidence, and creating unprecedented powers and duties at all levels to meet that need.

The Government’s Mandate to NHS England requires it: “to ensure that the new commissioning system promotes and supports participation by NHS organisations and NHS patients in research funded by both commercial and non-commercial organisations, most importantly to improve patient outcomes, but also to contribute to economic growth. This includes ensuring payment of treatment costs for NHS patients taking part in research funded by Government and Research Charity partner organisations.”

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) was established in April 2006 following publication of a five-year strategy ‘Best Research for Best Health’. The goal of the NIHR is to create a health research system in which the NHS supports outstanding individuals, working in world class facilities, conducting leading edge research focussed on the needs of patients and the public. Aims and measures for achieving the vision of the NIHR are set out in regularly-updated briefing documents that are published on the NIHR website.

Health research remains a Government priority; the Department’s revenue spend on research has increased from £885 million in 2009-10 to planned investment of £1,077 million in 2014-15. The Department’s research and development budget funds the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Department’s Policy Research Programme.

NIHR’s approach has generated widespread support for research from the NHS, academia and industry. This includes:

- investment in research infrastructure and increasing the attractiveness of the United Kingdom as a site for life science industry investment - through NIHR Biomedical Research Centres, Units and the Clinical Research Network;

- speeding up the translation of advances in basic science into tangible benefits for patients - through NIHR Clinical Research Facilities for Experimental Medicine;

- increasing the capacity and the capability of the NHS to support research funded by research councils and charities - through the NIHR Clinical Research Network;

- supporting clinicians at all stages of their careers – through the NIHR Integrated Academic Training programme;

- increasing the quality and volume of applied health research focused on the needs of patients and the public - through NIHR Research Programmes; and

- transforming the health research system to be transparent, competitive, and based on quality and relevance - by embedding research as a core function of the NHS.