Background and Role
The Health and Social Care Research and Development (HSC R&D) Division is part of the Public Health Agency. Established in 2009, it is responsible for the administration and coordination of the HSC R&D budget on behalf of Department of Health, Northern Ireland (DoH NI). Its work is based on the principle that the best health and social care must be underpinned by knowledge, based on well conducted research, which can then be applied in the delivery of care.
(Between 1998 and 2009, prior to the Review of Public Administration, this function was carried out by the R&D Office, as part of the Central Services Agency).
The HSC R&D Division supports researchers based in Northern Ireland as well as those in Health and Social Care Trusts or other bodies who use the outputs from research findings.
While the effectiveness of research performance and application depends ultimately on the skill and ability of individual researchers and users of research, the HSC R&D Division ensures that researchers can work within an environment that supports, encourages and facilitates them.
For example HSC R&D Division:
- funds essential infrastructure for research such as information databanks, tissue banks, clinical research facilities clinical trials units and research networks
- builds research capacity in Northern Ireland through research training opportunities
- enables research governance processes to be as efficient as possible
- creates opportunities for researchers to compete for research funding on a wider UK or international basis
- supports innovation as a means of transferring HSC R&D findings into practice
- ensures personal and public involvement (PPI) in HSC R&D
HSC R&D Division Budget
|
Financial Year
|
Allocated funding DoH
(£m)
|
Additional funding DoH 1
(£m)
|
Income from other sources 2
(£m)
|
Contribution to NETSCC 3
(£m)
|
Total R&D Spend
(£m)
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2019-2020 |
12.00 | 0.86 | 0.703 | 3.85 | 17.41 |
What areas do we fund?
Download a pdf of HSC R&D Division funding structure (Mar 2024). Also see our portfolio pages to view lists of funded research.
Click on the image below to see how the funding is split across different areas:
Impact of our Funding
Relevant literature demonstrates a need to continue to build up health sector R&D, its overall importance to the economy and the key role that R&D plays in the planning and delivery of health and social services.
An independent review of the value of HSC Research and Development (R&D) investment in health and social care research in Northern Ireland (NI) was commissioned by Department of Health (NI) (formly Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS)) in 2012. RSM McClure Watters were appointed to undertake this evaluation.
The review, entitled Evaluation of the Impact of HSC R&D Funding in NI, Including Benchmarking with other Countries, found that the amount of funding leveraged into NI was £4.14 for every £1 invested in health and social care research. In addition, the independent review showed that for every research project funded, an average of 1.3 jobs was created. These are high-value jobs, representing an overall benefit to the NI economy.
However the review also noted that the total health and social care R&D budget is significantly less in Northern Ireland per capita than the rest of the UK. Even at its peak in 2008 the total HSC R&D budget in Northern Ireland equated to around £7.63 per capita, less than 50% of what is available in England (an estimated £15.12). In Scotland and Wales the level of R&D funding per capita is estimated to be in the region of £12.23 and £14.38 respectively. Whilst the standard of support and quality assurance provided by the HSC R&D Division staff was generally well regarded, the low level of funding available was a significant issue amongst those consulted. Many Principal Investigators (PIs) noted that their research activities were restricted due the lack of access to large funding initiative in the UK.
Based on this evidence, in July 2012, the NI Health Minister announced a research and development funding commitment in the form of an annual contribution of >£3 million (variable annual investment for >five years) to the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Evaluations, Trials and Studies (NETS) funding pot. The investment enables NI-based researchers to lead on applications to NETS research programmes alongside their colleagues from the other United Kingdom (UK) nations.
The review also reported that there was a general perception among those who were consulted within the HSC Trusts that the Trust working culture could be more conducive to the performance of high quality research. This was evidenced by a number of factors, including the absence of a requirement for local HSC Trusts to report (to HSC Board or DHSSPS) on their R&D activities. This is also related to the finding that a number of consultees felt that R&D within the health and social care sector in Northern Ireland needed an increase in profile.
The review was published in 2012. You can download a copy here>
Health Research Analysis
The analysis consists of more than 23,500 health and biomedical research awards from 173 organisations accounting for an estimated expenditure of just over £5.0 billion in the calendar year 2022.
The aim of the analysis is to provide a high-quality overview of the UK’s health research landscape; the conditions of focus, the types of research being conducted, where that research is being done, and how this compares to the wider UK R&D ecosystem and health research internationally.
To read more see the HRCS website
Setting Research Priorities
Linking to National Research Priorities: Most often we draw on the work of national organisations who undertake research priority exercises.
The James Lind Alliance (JLA) is a non-profit making initiative established in 2004 and now managed by NIHR. It brings patients, carers and clinicians together to identify and prioritise the top 10 uncertainties, or 'unanswered questions', about the effects of treatments that they agree are most important. This information helps to ensure that those who fund health research are aware of what matters to both patients and clinicians.
Identifying Local Research Priorities: From time to time HSC R&D Division also works directly with users of research (policy-makers, practitioners and commissioners), generators of researchers, patients, clients, carers and others to determine priority research areas for HSC.
How funding decisions are made
HSC R&D Division offers various research funding schemes (listed under the funding opportunities section) which are developed in line with HSC R&D Strategy and endorsed by the R&D Strategic Advisory Group.
Research funding is distributed in a transparent and accountable way through open competition. The process is intended to ensure the highest quality, relevance and focus of the research funded by HSC R&D Division.
In most cases valid research funding applications are rigorously evaluated by independent peer review and Evaluation Panels, to ensure that HSC R&D Division achieves high standards of evaluation and uses its limited award budget to best effect, by funding only the most outstanding proposals.
Evaluation Panels are established to objectively assess, against predetermined criteria, each application through various stages of an evaluation process and to eventually agree and recommend a list of applications worthy of support to HSC R&D Division.
HSC R&D Division will appoint a Chairperson for the Evaluation Panel, who could be the Director of HSC R&D or a person from outside Northern Ireland who has experience of judging research award schemes at a national (UK) level. The Chairperson often does not exercise voting/scoring rights, but has the responsibility to ensure that the Evaluation Panel executes its duties with fairness, objectivity, accuracy and integrity.
HSC R&D Division will appoint Panel Members for the Evaluation Panel. The composition of the Panel is dependent on the remit and scope of the funding scheme and will often include members from academic, clinical, scientific and social care backgrounds who are deemed to have expert knowledge of the topic area(s) as well as persons from a HSC policy and practice background. In addition, the Panel will always include active involvement of members of the public (PPI representatives). HSC R&D Division are indebted to the hard work of many people in reviewing and recommending applications for funding.
In supporting the work of the Panel, funding applications will usually undergo an external peer review process using high quality referees at a national and international level. Referees are usually persons with academic, policy or clinical backgrounds who are deemed by HSC R&D Division to be topic experts in the area under consideration. HSC R&D Division is very much dependent on the goodwill of the wider research community to support it in this work.
Final decisions on which applications can be funded, from those deemed worthy of support by the Evaluation Panel, is made by HSC R&D Division, dependent on the budget available. This stage may also involve seeking advice from other sources.
Personal and Public Involvement
The work of HSC R&D Division is based on the principle that the best health and social care must be underpinned by knowledge, based on well conducted research, which can then be applied in the delivery of care.
To help achieve this, we want to ensure that patients, carers, services users and the public have an opportunity to influence the research process and that the topics which are prioritised for research are important for service users and are patient- and public-centric rather than solely researcher-led.
We have embeded Personal and Public Involvement (PPI) into all aspects of HSC R&D Division activity. Through this we aim to:
- promote public awareness of health and social care research and actively seek the involvement of the public in our activity;
- increase awareness among the clinical research community of the benefits of PPI and encourage researchers to engage with users, carers and advocacy groups at the earliest possible stage in the planning and development of their research projects;
- make researchers aware of mechanisms and systems for PPI that will provide the scope and capacity to help them to plan, conduct and disseminate research studies that are important and relevant to service users;
- facilitate researchers’ access to service users and public input.
Partnership Working
HSC R&D Division has a local focus but acknowledges that health and social care research is a global endeavour, and so, forms effective partnerships and close working relationships with our counterparts in the other UK administrations and in Ireland, the European Union and the United States of America. These partnerships are essential for the effective delivery of research in the HSC and are used to:
- joint fund research infrastructure
- joint fund research awards
- co-ordinate effective research management
- promote good research practice
Partner organisations which HSC R&D Division continues to work closely with include: All Ireland Institute for Hospice and Palliative Care • All Ireland Institute of Public Health • Cancer Research UK • Department for the Economy • Department of Health (NI) • Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) • Health Research Authority (HRA) • Health Research Board (Ireland) • Health & Social Care Trusts • Invest Northern Ireland • Medical Research Council (MRC) • Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency (NIMDTA) • National Institutes for Health (USA) • National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) • Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency (NISRA) • Office for Research Ethics Committees Northern Ireland (ORECNI) • Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research (OSCHR) • Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) • Research Ireland • UK Departments of Health • UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) • UK Cochrane Collaboration • Ulster University (UU) • Wellcome Trust • Wolfson Foundation
Strategic Advisory Group (SAG)
HSC R&D Division is supported in its role by a Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) who provide advice on:
- Developing and implementing an R&D Strategy for the HSC with the aim of improving the health and social wellbeing of the population of Northern Ireland and elsewhere, and encouraging an evidence-based approach to health and social care across the HSC;
- Ensuring that the Strategy maximises the use of HSC R&D resources to meet the needs of the wider HSC, and takes account of views from a wide range of persons and organisations with an interest in HSC R&D activity;
- New developments affecting HSC R&D.
The Membership of SAG includes:
Director of HSC R&D & Chief Scientific Advisor • Assistant Director for HSC R&D • Chief professional advisors at DoH (NI) (inc. Chief Medical Officer, Chief Nursing Officer, Chief Dental Officer, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer and Chief Social Services Officer) • Director of Public Health, Public Health Agency (PHA) • Non-Executive Chair, PHA Board • Directors of R&D in each of the five HSC Trusts (Belfast HSCT, Western HSCT, Northern HSCT, Southern HSCT, South Eastern HSCT) • Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research, Queen's University Belfast (QUB) • Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research & Innovation, Ulster University (UU) • Director of Innovation, Research & Technology, InvestNI • Assistant Director of Commissioning, Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) • Head of Research, Patient & Client Council (PCC)
There are also a number of Observers including representatives from: the Medical Research Council; Economic and Social Research Council; Health Research Board Ireland; Institute of Public Health Ireland; and Association of Medical Research Charities.