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The impact of the NHS R&D Strategy on Mental Health Services and Research in England – response document

A key component of the Government’s health research strategy, Best Research for Best Health, is to move to a funding system which is transparent, fair and sustainable and where funding reflects R&D activity. The new research funding system will provide competitively awarded grants to cover the direct costs of research, as well as paying NHS clinicians to collaborate in research led by others. All new National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funding schemes are expected to be “fully funded” schemes, and are designed to cover all relevant costs incurred in conducting the research activities under each scheme.

Over the last few months, the Department has been responding to concern that our health research reforms will remove core funding for mental health research units and replace it with targeted funding for research projects and programmes.  Critics believe that this will undermine the strength of UK mental health research and suggest that mental health research units previously funded through the NHS will disappear because their core costs cannot be covered.

The Department of Health commissioned a review of the impact of Best Research for Best Health on mental health research in England. The review was undertaken by Stuart Bell, Chief Executive of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.

The Department of Health has responded to the recommendations made in the review, many of which were already being taken forward by DH officials to ensure the successful implementation of the new NIHR funding schemes.

• Download Response to the recomendations made in the report (PDF, 27K)
• Download The impact of the NHS R&D strategy on Mental Health Services and Research in England (PDF, 102K)
• Download Appendix 2 Impact of R&D on MH (XLS, 172K)
• Download Appendix 7 Extract from the MSC 2007 Clincal Staffing Survey (PDF, 476K)