Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to expand protected research time for NHS clinicians contributing to research.

The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future highlights the opportunities for improved care and innovation that comes from research and life sciences in the National Health Service. The upcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan is considering all aspects of the NHS workforce, including the research workforce. The 10-Year Health Plan is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-future

The Department, through the National Institute of Health and Care Research, funds protected time for research and research training as part of career development awards, allowing award holders to develop and utilise research skills alongside clinical practice. This includes Academic Clinical Fellowships and Clinical Lectureships, which are clinical academic training posts, primarily for doctors and dentists, that are undertaken alongside specialty training. The Senior Clinical and Practitioner Research Award provides funding for professionals to have protected time for research within their current practice roles. It is available to all professions, with priority given to those typically underrepresented in research.

The Department is working with key stakeholders and the devolved administrations to develop a UK Research Workforce Strategy, to be published in the coming months. The strategy sets out a 10-year vision to embed research and innovation into core practice within the NHS, social care, and public health system, aligned with the 10-Year Health Plan, Life Sciences Sector Plan, and Office for the Strategic Co-ordination of Health Research reports. The ambition is to address barriers and build research capacity across all professions, settings, and geographies to lead and deliver high-quality research, as well as to routinely implement research findings to drive improved patient outcomes along with enhanced efficiency and productivity across the health, social care, and public health system.