What is the Research Capability Programme?

• It is a formal programme of work with a formal programme management structure under a programme board.
• It will take forward the recommendations in the 'Report of Research Simulations (PDF, 588 Kb)' produced by the UK Clinical Research Collaboration's Advisory Group to NHS Connecting for Health in the context of other developments in e-Health, and in tandem with measures to strengthen the good governance of health information used for wider purposes.
• Its action plan specifies how each of the recommendations will be progressed, whether directly under the new Programme or in collaboration with other programmes and activities.
• It has a Senior Responsible Owner who is a nominee of the DH Director-General of R&D.

What is its objective?

The primary objective is to enable research to achieve its full potential as a 'core' activity for healthcare, alongside other uses of NHS data that lead to improvements in the quality and safety of care.

These uses:

• contribute to improved patient management, patient safety and public health;
• rest on improved methodological rigour and care in recording suitable data; and
• will be transformed by efficient large-scale infrastructures and purpose-built secure interfaces.

It is a strict criterion for all these uses that there will be effective mechanisms to protect identifiable personal and confidential information and to seek appropriate consent.

What are the origins of this programme?

In December 2005, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a commitment to develop the capability of NHS IT systems to:

• facilitate recruitment of patients to clinical trials
• gather data to support ground-breaking work on the health of the population and the effectiveness of health interventions.

The UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) and NHS Connecting for Health (NHS CFH) then committed themselves to a joint programme of work, to move the dialogue beyond principles and generalities into relevant detailed work. The government health strategy Best Research for Best Health repeated this commitment.

The UKCRC also provided the appropriate forum to promote the development of interoperability between both clinical and research support systems on a UK-wide basis.

It was recognised that there was a need to understand the similarities and the differences between the approaches in the four countries and to identify ways to ensure valid data exchange and transfer.

In July 2006, the UKCRC established a Research & Development (R&D) Advisory Group to advise NHS Connecting for Health. This:

• was chaired by the Chief Executive of the Economic and Social Research Council, Professor Ian Diamond;
• had terms of reference that were agreed by the then health minister, Lord Warner;
• was co-sponsored by the Department of Health (DH) Director-General of R&D and DH Director of IT Service Implementation; and
• had its membership drawn from the UKCRC (including industry) and NHS CFH;
• ran simulator projects, to examine in more detail the benefits, issues and requirements arising from research using data held by the NHS Care Record Service;
• produced its report in June 2007 (PDF, 588 Kb).

Additionally, a task force, chaired by Sir Robert Boyd and reporting to the Care Record Development Board, reviewed the governance arrangements around access to patient data for research and other purposes. This task force reported in August 2007 (PDF 209Kb).

The UKCRC Advisory Group's report has been the trigger to establish the Research Capability Programme.

What are the activities of the enabling phase?

This enabling phase will undertake a number of the short-term actions proposed in the UKCRC report and establish detailed plans for the next phase, to start from April 2008. The activities are to:

• define the scope of work for the new programme and for related initiatives;
• prepare programme initiation documents;
• identify a programme director;
• establish a programme board;
• agree terms of reference for an external reference group operating under the aegis of the Office for Strategic Co-ordination of Health Research (OSCHR);
• make substantial progress on the recommendations identified in the UKCRC report (PDF, 588 Kb);
• engage with stakeholders to create a common vision and;
• establish the subsequent phases of the programme ready for commencement in April 2008.

In summary

The objective of this programme's enabling phase is "to develop and establish a full programme of work that will deliver the outcomes and benefits heralded by the Chancellor in 2005 and further articulated in Best Research for Best Health, by following the recommendations in the UKCRC report (PDF, 588 Kb) and ensuring that pharmaceutical regulatory requirements can be met. This phase will also start to reaffirm the vision in the eyes of the public and sustain this through the life of the programme".