Written question WQ89161

The Health and Care Research Wales Plan outlines a number activities, aligned with the UK Clinical Research Vision, to embed clinical research at the heart of patient care across the NHS, making participation in research as easy as possible and ensuring health and care staff feel empowered to support research.

The Welsh Government, via Health and Care Research Wales, provides approximately £19.6m funding per year to support and facilitate the delivery of research studies across health and care settings in Wales. This funding enables the NHS to have the necessary infrastructure in place, including the costs of having research healthcare professional staff in place, to deliver clinical research effectively. It also includes resources for the Health and Care Research Wales Delivery Hub to provide national level support to facilitate the efficient set up of clinical trials so that the opportunity for participants to take part in these studies is available as quickly as possible.

Health and Care Research Wales has recently published an NHS R&D Framework, guiding Health Boards and Trusts on what research excellence looks like in the NHS where research is embraced, integrated into services and is a core part of an organisation’s culture.

In December 2023, Health and Care Research Wales will be launching new functionality as part of the UK Wide Be Part of Research service, to enable individuals to sign up their interest in taking part in research studies, joining a register that provides the opportunity to be matched to research activities that might be suitable.