Volume 2

Medical research and the NHS reforms / House of Lords, Select Committee on Science and Technology.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords. Science and Technology Committee.
Date:
1995
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: Medical research and the NHS reforms / House of Lords, Select Committee on Science and Technology. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ES I November 1994] [Continued ot a i 3. R&D in the New NHS describes how R&D will be organised within the framework which Ministers have agreed for the future organisation and management of the NHS. It also indicates where and how the organisation of R&D functions will need to take account of the recommendations in the report of the NHS R&D Task Force Supporting Research and Development in the NHS. R&D in the New NHS is intended to be read alongside Research for Health (1993) and not to replace it. 4. My staff in the Department of Health’s Research and Development Division have responsibilities for R&D to support the full range of the Department’s work. The organisation of the Department has recently been reviewed by Mrs Terri Banks whose report (July 1994) recommended that DH should work as one Department with three main business areas—health care (including the NHS Executive), social care and public health. The attached paper on R&D in the Department of Health indicates how RDD will support all three business areas and other strategic work on R&D. The NHS R&D programme is, of course, a key part of this work and the paper on R&D in the New NHS (which I am enclosing with this note as a separate document, given its direct relevance to the Committee’s enquiry) forms Annex B to the paper on Departmental R&D. 5. Following the introduction of the R&D strategy, Regional Heatlh Authorities published annual R&D plans in 1992 and 1993. As part of the final stages of the NHS reforms, the NHS Executive regional offices came into existence on 1 April 1994 and from the same date the number of RHAs was reduced to eight, sharing common boundaries with the regional offices. Subject to the consent of Parliament, RHAs will be abolished with effect from 31 March 1996. In their transitional capacity (as RHA/regional offices) the regions will each publish an R&D plan again this year (which RHAs will send directly to the Committee). Thereafter, we intend to produce a single, annual R&D plan in line with the NHS Executive’s new “single centre’ mode of working. The first consolidated R&D plan for the NHS will appear in 1995. 6. I hope that this information will be helpful to the Committee. 27 October 1994 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE NEW NHS 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 The NHS R&D strategy was launched in April 1991, followed, by the publication of the strategic statement Research for Health in September 1991. A second edition of Research for Health, published in June 1993, reported progress in developing management structures and outputs and in delivering change. Regional Health Authorities’ R&D plans published in 1992 and 1993 have given further details of local arrangements and achievements. 1.2 In July 1994 the NHS Executive published Managing the New NHS: Functions and Responsibilities setting out the framework agreed by Ministers for the future organisation and management of the NHS. The purpose of this paper is to explain how R&D will be organised within the new NHS described in the Executive’s publication. It describes the functions which regional offices and the Headquarters of the NHS Executive will undertake to support the NHS R&D strategy. It is intended to be read alongside, and not to replace, Research for Health (1993) and to accompany RHAs’ 1994 R&D Plans. 1.3 In September 1994 the report Supporting Research and Development in the NHS was published under cover of Executive Letter EL(94)68. The report was the work of an independent Task Force chaired by Professor Anthony Culyer. Its recommendations have been welcomed by Ministers as providing a basis for supporting research and development in the NHS into the next century. Work is now in hand to take forward the recommendations in partnership with the Universities, the Research Councils, Charities and other organisations which support research in the NHS. The arrangements described in this paper for managing R&D will be updated in 1995 in the light of this work. 2. AIM, OBJECTIVES AND KEY FUNCTIONS 2.1 The aim of the NHS R&D Strategy is to secure a knowledge-based health service in which clinical, managerial and policy decisions are based on sound and pertinent information about research findings and scientific and technological advance. This provides the basis for maximising the effectiveness, efficiency and appropriateness of patient services. 2.2 The Functions and Manpower Review of the NHS, and particularly the work of Functions Review Group 1, have helped to clarify the specific goals and objectives of the R&D strategy within the broader strategic framework now being developed for the NHS. 2.3 The goals and objectives of the R&D strategy are set out in Annex A. They give rise to six key functions that were not undertaken systematically prior to the introduction of the R&D strategy. These are (i) to identify NHS requirements for research and science-based knowledge; (ii) to ensure that knowledge relevant to NHS requirements is forthcoming, in particular by