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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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’

9. 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

10. 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)

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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