Clinical research in the UK is in a decline that could have serious implications for the future of health care and the development of new treatments, medical researchers warned today.
The Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) said a national network for clinical research needed to be established and better careers and reward structures should be introduced for researchers. More funding for medical research from all sources, including the government and research charities, was needed. The report, Strengthening Clinical Research, was welcomed by doctors, the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Cancer Research UK.
Reporting in this week's British Medical Journal, AMS researchers said the number of non-commercial trials carried out in Britain had fallen in recent years. Out of 615 trials funded by the NHS or Department of Health between 1980 and 2002, 514 (83.6%) were funded through programmes that were discontinued. The authors called for a coherent strategy to make sure there was support for trials that addressed issues of no interest to industry, but which would greatly help patients and health professionals.
The British Medical Association said patient care in the NHS was dependent on a healthy non-commercial research sector. Welcoming the report, Professor Michael Rees, chairman of the BMA's medical academic staff committee, said: "If it continues to shrink we could be missing out on medical breakthroughs, so it is absolutely essential that researchers get the funding and support they need.
"As the report recognises, we are facing a crisis in the recruitment and retention of medical research staff. We therefore welcome the recommendation that clinical research scientists be given better opportunities to balance research projects with their commitments to NHS patients," said Professor Rees.
Professor Colin Blakemore, chief executive of the MRC and AMS fellow, said: "The time is ripe for a strong initiative in clinical research and the academy's report chimes precisely with MRC's own thinking. Medical science is moving ever faster and it's vital that discoveries in the laboratory are quickly translated into new ways of preventing, diagnosing and treating disease. Equally, it's also important to facilitate a two-way flow of ideas so that clinical studies stimulate and inform basic research.
"Clinical research is at the heart of the MRC's mission to improve and maintain health and we're already putting in place measures to strengthen the MRC's contribution within the limits of the present budget. But more money will be essential if this vitally important area of work is to be carried forward. The MRC is making a case to government for increased funding for several priority areas, including clinical research, to help develop the UK's clinical research agenda.
"As well as targeting key areas in clinical research where more support is needed, such as translational research and clinical trials, we need to train and develop a new generation of clinical researchers to take that agenda forward," added Professor Blakemore.
