Published: 1 July 2025

In response to the "Clinical researchers in the United Kingdom: Building capacity to improve population health and promote economic growth" report by the Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions (NMAHP) Task and Finish group, AMRC's CEO Nicola Perrin said:

“Nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals are a vital part of the clinical research landscape, but the numbers of clinical academics in these careers are very low. We’re pleased to have been involved in developing this report, which includes important recommendations to help address this issue. Charities already play a significant role in supporting clinical researchers and will be crucial to implementing these actions.”

The report focuses on the five action areas agreed upon by the task and finish group to address the key challenges around increasing the number of clinical academics, providing flexible and accessible career pathways, supportive environments and adequate funding for those wanting to pursue clinical academic careers throughout the UK, and addressing significant gaps in data which limits the monitoring of the clinical academic landscape in the UK. 

Embedding research in the NHS will transform prevention and early detection, reduce health inequalities and offer a lifeline to patients. NMAHPs are key to this - they help move studies closer to people's day-to-day interactions with the health system, improving the scale of and access to NHS research. Charities, who fund over 2000 research posts in the health service, are an essential part of supporting these researchers.

Find further info and stats in our 2025: Our Sector's Footprint report. 

AMRC was part of the ‘Task and Finish’ group that prepared the report, which was convened by the Office for the Strategic Coordination of Health Research (OSCHR).