Finance ‘Impact Statement’ submitted to DHSC
Date: 20 July 2020
A statement on the financial impact of Covid19 on R&D in the UK has been submitted to the Department of Health & Social Care on behalf of the NHS R&D Forum and UKRD.
From this survey and further conversations within the R&D community, the group have identified that whilst there is some concern around NIHR funding, the main concerns for NHS R&D departments and their respective organisations relate to:
- Decreased commercial income
- Unfunded research costs for UPH studies
- Decreased charity income and future unfunded grant extensions
- COVID19 Vaccine Trials
The paper aims to set out the reasons for concern, assess the impact and proposes recommendations for consideration by DHSC. It concludes that a significant proportion, possibly as much as 40%, of the UKs clinical research infrastructure is funded by non-NIHR core funding streams and urgent action is required. Failure to address the issues will result in significant and rapid loss of highly skilled workforce and infrastructure.
The task and finish group comprised of representatives from the following organisations: University Hospital Southampton, East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospitals of Derby & Burton NHS Foundation Trust. Thanks to all participants for their valuable contribution.