Investing in research now will provide new opportunities to save lives
6-08-19
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) Cymru Wales has published a variety of recommendations for protecting clinical time for research aimed at the Welsh Government, NHS Wales, doctors, patients and research bodies.
Time for research: Delivering innovative patient care in Wales makes recommendations to ensure research is seen as core business in the NHS and that investing in research will deliver long-term gains for patient and public health.
The Welsh NHS faces many challenges. Staffing shortages and financial pressures clearly cannot be ignored, nor can the need to deliver more integrated care to support patients, but we cannot afford to store up problems for the future by letting research fall by the wayside. In fact, in Wales, our integrated health system may open up more opportunities for population research by allowing more extensive data collection across settings. Investing in research will deliver long-term gains for patients and public health - which is after all what the NHS is there to do.