The NHS R&D Forum supports publication of the new UK implementation plan to propel clinical research into the future
Date: 30 June 2021
The UK government and devolved administrations have announced the publication of a new Clinical Research Vision: Implementation Plan for 2021/2022 with the aim of making it faster and easier to conduct research in the UK and enabling more patients to be involved in, and benefit from, research of relevance to them.
The plan looks to create a patient-centred, pro-innovation and data-enabled clinical research environment, which empowers everyone across the health service to participate in delivering research and enables people across the country to take part in research.
You can read the full plan and executive summary of key commitments for the year here
This is a detailed implementation plan that provides the launch pad to propel UK clinical research into the future created as part of the Recovery, Resilience and Growth Programme with input from the NHS, academia, life sciences industry, medical research charities, HRA, MHRA, NIHR and patient representatives.
The plan sets out the steps being taken over the next year, backed by over £64 million of government funding, to begin to turn the UK vision for clinical research delivery into a reality.
In addition to an immediate focus on the managed recovery of the research impacted by COVID-19, the implementation plan is built around seven key areas of action:
- Improving the speed and efficiency of study set-up
- Building upon digital platforms to deliver clinical research
- Increasing the use of innovative research designs
- Aligning our research programmes and processes with the needs of the UK health and care systems
- Improving visibility and making research matter to the NHS
- Making research more diverse and more relevant to the whole of the UK
- Strengthening public, patient and service user involvement in research
There will many opportunities for the NHS R&D community to get involved over the coming months as the RRG programme delivers on its commitments.