R&D Annual Report SLaM Board, Nov 2005 Graham Thornicroft Tom Craig Gill Dale

R&D Levy SLaM’s R&D income for 2005 - 06: £25,424,842 - 97% ‘support for science’ – underpins research - 3% ‘priorities and needs’ – direct research funding

Threats to current funding Increasing pressure to account for spend in terms of impact of research on the NHS New DH R&D Strategy: Best Research for Best Health: A New National Health Research Strategy Consultation ended 21 Oct 2005

Increasingly Accountability to DH R&D Annual Report Reporting on ‘Priorities & Needs’ Programmes MAJOR FOCUS ON IMPACT ON NHS POLICY AND PRACTICE National Research Register Quarterly – R&D spend at project level Research Governance this year: Standards for Better Health

R&D Annual Report to DH Report on R&D portfolio by ‘priorities and needs’ programmes (SLaM leads on 19) Financial reporting of R&D spend by programme Information requirement focuses on outputs for each programme: How research impacts on the NHS Publications (peer reviewed journals) External grant funding Support for Higher Degrees

Priorities and Needs Programmes A partnership approach to improving quality of life for individuals with bipolar disorders Better treatments for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Criminal and antisocial behaviour among persons with mental illness or personality disorder Effective Psychological Treatments for Anxiety Disorders Effective therapies for Addictions Effective therapies for eating disorders: an evaluation of biological and psychological treatments Effective therapies for Psychosis: Evaluation of biological and psychological treatments and patients’ experience of care Improving the quality of dementia care: from aetiology to treatment Learning disabilities and mental health Mental health of Diverse Populations Modernising mental health services Perinatal psychiatric disorder: causes, characteristics, identification, care and effects on infants Primary Care for people with common mental health problems Psychological / psychiatric aspects of physical disease Service user involvement in research Social inclusion of people with mental disorder Systematic reviews in mental health / Cochrane Depression Anxiety and Neurosis Group The carer’s experience and needs Understanding and treating major mental health problems in childhood

Feedback on 2005 R&D Report All 19 programmes rated strong Generally this is a very good Annual Report that demonstrates the excellent R&D activity being undertaken by the Trust. We are pleased to see that many programmes are showing an increase in external funding and publications. However, the presentation of impacts needs to be improved.

Feedback continued Impacts need to focus solely on providing explicit examples, in layman's terms, that demonstrate how research has led to changes in health service policy or practice.[NB generic problem – highlighted in generic feedback letter] Note that 2 SLaM programmes are ‘borderline moderate’

Action – maximise our position: Consider how best to present our portfolio Merge programmes? Develop more effective ways of demonstrating the impact of our research on NHS policy and practice Anticipate implementation of DH R&D strategy

DH R&D Strategy Aims to develop transparent funding system, moving forward from historical allocations (‘Culyer funding’) Seeks to develop system where funding follows activity Radical proposals put out for consultation (IoP and SLaM jointly responded)

Key elements of the new DH R&D Strategy Virtual Institute – National Institute for Health Research with Faculty Academic medical centres [generic and specialist] Technology Platforms Research networks Expanded direct funding schemes

IoP / SLaM Position Academic medical centres – already a world class centre in mental health Technology Platforms – strengths in imaging and genetic technologies Research networks – already jointly leading UK Mental Health Research Network

Risks Move towards more direct funding so less available to underpin research (‘NHS service support costs’) Proposing to directly link funding to research activity to single measure: participant recruitment [doesn’t take into account type of project / speciality] – potential to destabilise services