CSO Statement on the publication of the UK-wide plan to strengthen clinical research delivery

Posted by: Julie Simpson - Posted on:

The UK government and devolved administrations today set out the first phase of activity to ensure research will have better health outcomes and allow more patients to be involved in, and benefit from, research of relevance to them. £64 million funding to back UK-wide plan to strengthen clinical research delivery.

The activity for the coming months will include:

  • the development and trialling of new COVID-19 treatments and vaccines
  • making UK clinical research delivery easier through more rapid ethics reviews and faster approval processes
  • boosting clinical research capacity with more virtual and remote trials
  • increasing diversity and participation in research in communities traditionally under-served by research
  • digitising the clinical research process to allow researchers to find patients, offer them places in trials, and monitor health outcomes.

Detailed plans are set out in Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery: 2021-2022 implementation plan

A key component of the plan is driving the recovery of the UK’s clinical research portfolio, while continuing to develop and trial new COVID-19 treatments and vaccines. To support this aim a managed approach to the recovery of the UK clinical research portfolio is being implemented. The primary focus of this approach will be interventional, multi-site clinical research studies that are both urgent and should benefit from the support of NIHR CRN and the Devolved Administration equivalents to enable them to fully recruit and/or close in the next year. CSO has engaged with funders and the wider health research infrastructure here to identify a list of Scottish-led studies that best fit the criteria listed above. Chief Investigators on these studies are being contacted by NHS Research Scotland to discuss delivery planning.

Further detail on the Managed Recovery framework is available from the NIHR website – Guidance on the managed recovery of the UK clinical research portfolio.

The Chief Scientist Office (CSO) has convened two groups of NRS stakeholders to address restart/ resilience issues and agree a common and consistent way forward:

An integral part of Clinical Research is the work carried out in University facilities.

Following the publication of the updated Strategic Framework and the timetable for easing restrictions, non-essential work in laboratories and research facilities, including research libraries and research archives, can now be carried out in Protection Levels 0-4. In all Protection Levels, working from home remains the default position where this is possible. However, when we move beyond level 0 (which we expect around 9th August, but is subject to confirmation nearer the time), we will continue to encourage a greater degree of working from home than pre-COVID-19.

Please refer to the Scottish Government Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance for laboratories and research facilities for the latest updates.

CSO wishes to thank all those who have worked to deliver health research for the benefit of the people of Scotland during the challenging period of the COVID-19 pandemic.