Government funding
The Government currently funds health related research through two main routes, the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). On 31 March 2006, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, appointed Sir David Cooksey to lead a review to build agreement on the best institutional arrangements for the new single fund for health research announced in the 2006 Budget. A full copy of the report can be downloaded from the Treasury website
The review concluded that, although good progress has been made in some areas, further work is needed to ensure that publicly funded health research is carried out in the most effective and efficient way, and to facilitate rapid translation of research findings into health and economic benefits. The report recommended specific actions which Government can take to achieve this. In his Pre-Budget Report on 6 December 2006, the Chancellor announced that he and the Secretaries of State for Health and for Trade and Industry (now Innovation, Universities and Skills) welcomed the report and would work to take forward its recommendations.
Office for Strategic Co-ordination of Health Research (OSCHR)
A key recommendation of the review was the establishment of a new Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research (OSCHR) that will take an overview of the budgetary division and research strategy of both the MRC and NIHR.
Activities
OSCHR’s mission is to facilitate more efficient translation of health research into health and economic benefits in the UK through better coordination of health research and more coherent funding arrangements to support translation. The key functions of OSCHR are to:
- work with officials from DH, DIUS and the Devolved Administrations to set the Government's health research strategy, taking into account the advice, priorities and needs set out by NIHR and its equivalents in the Devolved Countries, MRC and the NHS;
- Set the budget required to deliver this strategy and submit a single Spending Review bid to the Treasury;
- Communicate the UK's health priorities to the pharmaceutical and bioscience sectors, including designating public and private sector projects addressing hitherto unmet health needs as 'UK Priority Projects';
- Monitor delivery of the strategy against objectives and report to Parliament on progress; and
- Encourage a stronger partnership between Government, health industries and charities.
OSCHR’s role is to work with MRC and NIHR to develop a single integrated Health Research Strategy that covers all areas of health research. In order to implement this strategy OSCHR, working with officers from MRC, NIHR, DH and DIUS submitted a single bid to the Governments CSR process. The outcome of this bid was announced on 9 October 2007.
The OSCHR Board will publish an overarching health strategy document in 2008. It will contain joint MRC/NIHR plans for the following areas:
- Translational Medicine Research
- Public Health Research
- E-Health Research
- Methodology Research
- Building up Human Capital
The initial focus of OSCHR’s oversight has been the development of a coherent strategy for translational medicine research. Officers from MRC and NIHR have been developing joint plans in this area under the guidance of the Translational Medicines Board (TMB).
In addition to translational medicine OSCHR, the MRC and NIHR are currently working together to establish a Public Health Research Board (PHRB) and to develop strategies for e-Health and Human Capital, but these are at an earlier stage of development. More details will be posted as the work progresses.
- OSCHR press release Major Boost for UK Health Research Funding
Human Capital
The OSCHR partners share a vision of a research workforce with the capabilities and capacity to lead, participate in and use research of the highest quality and relevance, fit to meet the challenges of 21st century health research. To help coordinate activities and priorities, a working group of the five OSCHR partners was formed in 2009, which created for the first time a UK-wide survey of personal health research fellowships funded by 12 organisations. The survey represents a strong and valuable evidence base, which we are keen to make available to others.
Exploiting the UK’s position as a world leader in health informatics
UK researchers are at the forefront of using of large health datasets to improve treatments, drug safety and assess risks to public health. Infrastructure initiatives in England (Research Capability Programme, RCP), Scotland (Scottish Health Information System for Research, SHIS-R) and Wales (Welsh Secure Anonymised Information Linkage programme, SAIL) will soon allow access to a range of NHS and health-related electronic data sources for research purposes, while safeguarding and maintaining patient confidentiality.
The research councils, Health Departments and major charity funders have already made significant investments in research, infrastructure and methodological development linking electronic health-related data. The funders have now come together, under the auspices of OSCHR to ensure coordination across a wider range of activities in order to maximise the potential for e-health research in the UK. The funders have developed A Strategic Framework for Health Informatics in Support of Research identifying five key areas that need addressing in order to strengthen the UK’s capacity and capability in health informatics research.
The funders will work with a range of stakeholders including industry to take forward activities within each workstream.