The Government has today published its full response to the NHS Future Forum.  It contains a number of commitments relating to research.  This is a very positive development, which has been warmly welcomed by our stakeholders.  We are working with colleagues on the delivery of these commitments. 

The relevant extract from the response (chapter 3) is below and we have highlighted the key points for research.

__________________________________________________

Research and innovation

The Forum’s report also emphasises the important role of commissioners in supporting research and innovation. We agree that research and innovation (by academia, charities, businesses and the NHS) are vital to the continuous improvement of quality in the NHS. The NHS should drive innovation both in healthcare and across the wider economy, and high quality research will be essential to this.

As this chapter shows, expert advice from clinicians and other professionals is a core part of the evidence on which the NHS Commissioning Board and clinical commissioning groups should base their plans. But to achieve the best outcomes for patients, the latest clinical research and innovations must also be fed into the design and provision of local services. We will therefore ensure that a culture of research and innovation is embedded in the arrangements for the new NHS Commissioning Board and Public Health England.

In particular, we will make sure that the systems and processes for commissioning used by the NHS Commissioning Board and clinical commissioning groups ensure that research is promoted, supported and funded by the NHS. This will include the tariff, commissioning guidance  and the processes for authorising and supporting development of clinical commissioning groups. We will also ensure that the systems and processes developed and used by Public Health England fully promote the conduct of research and the use of research evidence.

The Bill requires the NHS Commissioning Board to promote innovation in the provision of health services and to take full account of the need to promote research and the use of the evidence that research provides. The Forum’s report recommends that clinical commissioning groups should be placed under the same duties, and also that commissioners fund the treatment costs of patients who are taking part in research.

We agree. Clinical commissioning groups’ legal duties should reflect their key role in making sure that, at a local level, the need for good research, innovation and a strong evidence basis for clinical decisions is paramount. We will therefore amend the Bill to create a new duty for clinical commissioning to promote research and innovation and the use of research evidence, in line with the current duty on the NHS Commissioning Board. We will also make sure that clinical commissioning groups and the NHS Commissioning Board ensure that treatment costs for patients who are taking part in research funded by Government and Research Charity partner organisations are funded through normal arrangements for commissioning patient care, as set out in existing guidance (HSG(97)32). *[see below].

As mentioned in Chapter 2, we also intend to amend the Bill to create a new duty for the Secretary of State to promote research, to reflect the important strategic role of government, together with the Department’s ongoing responsibility for research and development policy and for the National Institute for Health Research

_________________________________________

* Existing guidance states

·         Research and Development is a routine and necessary part of the work of the NHS

·         Healthcare funding allocations to NHS commissioners are intended to cover patient care services associated  with R&D in the NHS

·         NHS Commissioners will ensure that the treatment costs associated with externally-funded, non-commercial R&D are met through normal commissioning arrangements.

·         This includes any 'Excess Treatment Costs'

·         It is not appropriate for individual parts of the NHS locally to decide which externally-funded R&D should and should not be supported.