Cost-saving measures put in place at provider level should ‘not imply reductions in research staff’, NHS England has told GP practices and PCNs.
A letter sent to practice managers, GP partners, PCNs and hospitals at the start of the month underlined the NHS’s track record for ‘delivering world-class research’ and the fact research activity generates vital income.
It called on health providers to ensure that funding allocated for research that come from external sources, such as grants, awards or contracts is used for its ‘intended purpose’. That would include recruitment for research and development posts, staffing of NHS clinical trials and ‘programmed activities’.
In the letter Vin Diwakar, national director, clinical transformation at NHS England, also said there should be board level ‘visibility of research research delivery and income.’
‘It is important research is not impacted by recruitment freezes being applied to research and development posts that are funded from external sources such as grants, awards and allocations through contracts to deliver priority infrastructure, such as commercial research delivery centres,’ he explained.
‘With this in mind, the NHS England Executive has agreed that cost-saving measures at provider level should not imply reductions in research staffing, he added.
He urged practices and PCNs to:
- Comply with the terms and conditions attached to any research income from outside the NHS HM Treasury allocations, and use this funding for its intended purpose, including recruiting to research and development posts and programmed activities.
- Establish board-level reporting of research activity and income, with scrutiny of the UK Clinical Research Delivery (UKCRD) programme site level performance metrics for study set-up. NHS England is to publish guidance on income and activity reporting later in 2025, the letter said.
- Ensure all commercial trial activities are invoiced in a timely manner.
- Follow the existing NHS England and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) guidance on investing capability and capacity income from commercial trials.
Earlier this year, practices and PCNs were encouraged to apply for a share of £10.25m as part of an initiative to boost commercial research within primary care.
The programme, launched by the NIHR, aims to create new Primary Care Commercial Research Delivery Centres (PC-CRDCs), to increase commercial clinical trials and improve the sector’s skills and capability in the research field. Funding allocations will be announced in August.
