Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which NHS body has responsibility for commissioning new clinical research?

The commissioning of publicly-funded new early translational, clinical and applied research across the National Health Service and the health and care system more widely is undertaken largely by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), which is funded by the Department. In 2016/17, the NIHR funded £1,035.7 million of research across its programme, research infrastructure in the NHS and training funding streams. The NIHR then openly publishes all of the results of its research in peer-reviewed journals. In addition, the NIHR provides summaries, digests and reviews of clinical research for health and care professionals via the NIHR Dissemination Centre.

The NIHR funds ‘needs-led’ research – it aims to address issues that matter to the NHS, public health and care system by identifying gaps in knowledge, and funding research that provides high-quality evidence to fill such gaps. To achieve this the NIHR undertakes activities to identify needs, working closely with users of research evidence – those responsible for establishing policy, commissioning services and delivering care. Possible programmes and topics for research are reviewed by advisory groups of external experts and public members to assess the need for the proposed research, and are then prioritised.