Published: 20 January 2022

Last week, prior to the Health and Care Bill entering Committee Stage in the House of Lords, AMRC and 14 organisations from across the life sciences community developed a briefing for Peers calling for the Bill to incorporate an enhanced research mandate in legislation.

Currently, legislation only includes a duty to promote research. The new briefing supports amendments which enhance this duty by ensuring that eligible NHS organisations conduct clinical research, and by requiring them to plan and report requirements for research delivery. The organisations below support embedding research in care to deliver the following benefits:

• Improving patient outcomes and experience
• Increasing staff satisfaction
• Creating economic benefits for the NHS and the broader economy
• Supporting levelling-up and our ability to address health inequalities
• Enhancing the UK’s status as a science superpower

The briefing also explains why the existing legislation has fallen short in supporting the prioritisation and delivery of clinical research in the NHS, leading to inequality of opportunities for patients and staff to participate in research.

The briefing is supported by the following organisations:

• The Academy of Medical Sciences
• Alzheimer’s Research UK
• The Association of Medical Research Charities
• The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
• The British Medical Association
• British Heart Foundation      
• The British Pharmacological Society
• The British Medical Association      
• Cancer Research UK
• The Medical Schools Council
• Northern Health Science Alliance
• The Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists
• The Royal College of Physicians
• The University of Liverpool
• Versus Arthritis